Full Circle
by Mary Anne Gruen
Summary: The Wizard Mazarin returns to the Nine Kingdoms to take his revenge.
1. Default Chapter

**Full Circle**

By Mary Anne Gruen

Disclaimer: This is fanfiction, made just for fun for the fans of The 10th Kingdom. None of the characters from the original movie belongs to me. All the rest belong either to me, the Brothers Grimm, or to Mythology.

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Return**

The craggy coastline of the Sixth Kingdom had no thriving harbor. The slopes leading down to the sea were sheer and windblown, with a myriad of jagged rocks sticking up out of the water like dragon's teeth. The weather was always rough and damp. And the caves just above the thundering waves were rumored to be haunted. No sensible person ever went there. Only the occasional goblin, because goblins crave solitude and have no fear of water. It was the perfect place to hide.

In the deep recesses of one of the caves at the water's edge were gathered twenty survivors of The Magic War that had taken place almost thirty years before. They had been attracted to that spot because of its isolation and because the mad Great-Grandson of the Naked Emperor was too busy endlessly reliving his ancestor's foremost foolishness to be suspicious of anything. But now it seemed like things were about to change.

The recent war with the trolls and the giants had brought the Ice Maidens to the vicinity. And even worse, after the war was over, several members of The Council of the Nine Kingdoms had begun paying visits to The Great Snoozing Castle to see the Naked Emperor's Great-Grandson. They were trying to force him into developing a parliamentary system for fear that his mental instability would make the Sixth Kingdom easy prey for new uprisings. That was bad news for the twenty who were hidden away on the kingdom's coastline. Stability was something they most definitely did not want.

So they began working harder for the return of their Master, the great and terrible wizard Mazarin. He had been imprisoned at the end of The Magic War. Centaurea, the Elf King, and his wife Matilde, Queen of the Fairies, had sent him to another dimension on another world and imprisoned him there behind a magic barrier. During the struggle, Centaurea was killed by Mazarin. And the self-sacrifice of his death allowed all of his magic to join with the barrier, thus strengthening it.

For the last thirty years, Mazarin had been communicating with his consort Zafira, a two hundred year old winged fairy. Together they had formed a plan. Zafira gathered their most loyal followers and began the work of uniting their powers to break the barrier holding Mazarin. A few of their members were getting old by then, but since the magical power of such beings increases with age, this was actually an asset.

Day after day the group repeated the incantation that Mazarin had taught them.

"Inso eli todop ry,

Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

It was an ancient language and an ancient spell which was supposed to dissolve even the strongest of magic barriers as long as there was enough power behind it. Thirteen of Mazarin's twenty followers walked ceaselessly in a circle within a circle of twenty stones. Each one of them wore dark purple robes because purple was the color associated with wizards. At the center of the circle lay an amulet of jet, which is fossilized wood. The piece had once been worn by Mazarin, but had been torn from him during the final struggle with Centaurea. Jet is supposed to be capable of absorbing part of the wearer's soul. So it was hoped that part of Mazarin's essence still remained in the fossil and would create a better link to draw him to their circle.

When one of the thirteen grew tired, their leader Zafira would cut a doorway into the circle with her ritual knife so they could be replaced with another dark figure from the core of twenty. They were all magic beings, witches and warlocks, wizards, fairies, a couple of elves, and one Ice Maiden.

Finally as winter moved into the Nine Kingdoms, their patience paid off. They could feel it in the crackling energy that surrounded the circle inside and out.

"Inso eli todop ry," the thirteen chanted.

"Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

The fire lit cave began to rumble and shudder, but the followers of Mazarin chanted on. Those inside the circle were joined by those outside of it. Smoke began to rise in the center of the circle. Then great black clouds jumped up into the air, broken by blinding flashes of lightening as the magic barrier imprisoning Mazarin fell apart under the constant attack of his followers.

"Master!" Zafira shouted.

And he appeared in all his dark glory. He held his onyx tipped cane triumphantly in the air and stood like the god that he was convinced he was. He had on a purple robe covered over by a black cape. His brown hair and beard were flecked liberally with gray. But his dark eyes glowed like burning coals into the soul of anyone who looked upon him.

His consort Zafira threw herself at his feet and kissed the hem of his robe. "Oh great Mazarin!" she cried. "You have returned!"

The remainder of the twenty bowed low but said nothing. They were afraid to speak in the great one's presence.


	2. Almost Perfect Honeymoon

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Almost Perfect Honeymoon**

"They what?" Virginia asked incredulously, as the black carriage with its jaunty red wheels, and red and gold plumes lurched happily away from King Wendell's castle. She and Wolf were supposedly just starting off on their honeymoon. But suddenly Virginia was thinking of turning back.

"Your father and Queen Matilde," Wolf explained. "I know they spent the night together."

"Are you sure?" Virginia asked, her blue eyes wide and her mouth even wider. "I mean, how do you know?"

"A wolf's nose knows."

"Wow. And I thought it was just one sided."

"Evidently not."

"Of course it still could be. I mean, what could Queen Matilde possibly see in my father?"

"You've got me there," Wolf said seriously. "It's not something I expected either."

"But, Mom just died. He must be doing this on the rebound."

"Rebound? But Virginia, your mom and your dad haven't been together for an awfully long time."

"It doesn't matter. He never stopped loving her."

Wolf opened his mouth and then closed it again. How much could he really say without opening old wounds? His wife was still working through her feelings about killing her mother, even though it was in self-defense. And he knew she had fears about being a mother herself. Virginia had what people on her side of the mirror called "conflicting feelings" and "denial." But Wolf didn't think Tony had any of those things. When Virginia's mother had been placed in state before burial, Virginia had gone to visit her, but Tony had not. Wolf asked his father-in-law politely about it and Tony had declared that he was trying his best to forgive Christine for all she'd done. But he had no desire to pay respects to the woman who'd tried to kill his daughter. Huff-puff, this was a quandary. "Uh, how do you know?" he asked, a confused look strung out over his face.

"Because I do," Virginia said, as if she had the answer to everything. "Dad shouldn't be getting involved with anyone seriously so soon after Mom's death. It's probably just an after-the-war-moment-of-passion. I'm afraid Dad's going to get hurt. Maybe we should turn around."

"What?" Wolf said, almost jumping up. "No!"

"I've always taken care of Dad, kept him out of trouble. I can't leave him now at such a vulnerable moment."

"But what about me?" Wolf whined. "I'm vulnerable too. It's our honeymoon."

"Yes, well, there's lots of time for that. Dad needs me." Virginia leaned forward as if to call out to the carriage driver, but Wolf blocked her.

"No. No. Please! I'm sure whatever your father's going through he'll be fine. He's all grown up now. And he's way over the age of consent. And of course Matilde's way way over it. She's five hundred, after all. She must know what she's doing."

"But Dad doesn't."

"I think we should leave them alone for a while. If it's just an after-the-war thing like you say, it will be forgotten by the time we get back. Matilde might go back north and your father will get to noticing the other young ladies in the castle. If you go back now and start acting all sulky, you'll just make them more determined to stay together."

Virginia thought for a moment. "Maybe that's true."

"Of course it's true." He slipped one arm around her and started to draw her slowly to him. "In the meantime, we can be having a proper honeymoon."

"I guess that makes sense. Whatever's going on between them will probably be over by the time we get back."

"That's right. And if it is, we'll pick up the pieces." Wolf pulled her against him. And if it isn't, he added to himself, I'll stay out of everybody's way till they finish acting out.

The first week of Wolf and Virginia's honeymoon was spent reveling in the enchantment of Kissing Town. It was the place where Virginia had first realized her feelings for Wolf and the place where they'd had their first lovers quarrel. It seemed only right that they should begin their married life in earnest there.

By then, there were no heart shaped balloons rising magically into the air. It was far too cold for such things. But the magical good feelings of Kissing Town were still very much in evidence. Here more than anyplace else, people seemed to have put the war behind them. It was exactly what Wolf and Virginia needed.

At first, they spent most of their time in their gingerbread styled inn, doing what most honeymooners do. Their room was quite cozy with its own wood stove, down quilt, and featherbed. They had most of their meals delivered to their room, so they could make love and cuddle endlessly by candlelight. The singing ring sang them an array of love songs as they luxuriated in each other's company. Some of the songs were in strange languages that Wolf and Virginia had never heard before.

"The ring must be very old to know such songs," Wolf said.

"How old are you?" Virginia asked the ring.

"And what part of the Nine Kingdoms were you originally from?"

"The world does spread beyond the Nine," the ring sang.

"And one of those once was mine.

Beyond the Fifth, of Eastern fame,

Long ago from there I came."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Virginia laughed.

"The ring must be very old indeed," Wolf said, grabbing her left hand and holding it up closer to his face. The ring smiled proudly back at him from its glowing purple collar. "He's talking about the road to the east, past the Fifth Kingdom, past various mountains and deserts. There's actually a magic barrier there, an ancient one. No one remembers anymore what's on the other side or who actually created it. But most believe that it's a terrible land, full of danger. And that the barrier was put up by some powerful wizard or fairy to protect us."

Virginia made a face. There were plenty of awful things in the Nine Kingdoms already, what with giants and trolls. She didn't want to think of anything worse. "Is it a magical place?"

"Probably. Full of monsters I suppose. With a few less monsterly things."

"Please stop! This is not what I want to talk about on our honeymoon."

"Oh, poor little sausage. There's no reason for concern. Whatever's on the other side can't get through to us." And there Wolf let the subject drop. He didn't want to interfere with the mood. After all, Virginia's occasional worrying about her father and Matilde was enough of a downer as it was.

"How about another song," Virginia said to the ring.

The little pearl nodded its luminescent self and cleared its throat. Then it continued on with its serenade.

When Wolf and Virginia finally had the urge to go out, they went to dinner at the restaurant where they had shared their first kiss. This time, however, there were no lies or uncertainties. There were only deep sighs and lots of handholding. They finished off the meal with a cake just like the one they'd almost had the last time they were there. It was three tiers with pink icing and hearts all around. It was almost a second wedding cake.

"You know, where I come from," Virginia said, "you're supposed to save a piece of your wedding cake in the freezer for a year. And celebrate your first anniversary by eating it."

"Really?" Wolf asked. He remembered the freezer in Virginia's New York City apartment. It had seemed very useful for keeping food almost fresh. But still, cake a year old? He wasn't sure if even his wolf stomach could stretch to that.

They also visited the Lucky-at-Love Casino and played a few games. And strolled through the quaint little streets.

"Look there!" Wolf said pointing up. "They're giving kissing lessons."

"You think I need to take a few?"

"Oh no!" Wolf said coming to a dead stop. "I'm wondering if maybe you should stop in and give them a few pointers. After all, it's the charitable thing to do."

"I'm more in the mood for a special Kissing Town cocktail."

"Really? Which one? We tried the Some Enchanted Evening last night."

"How about a Long Slow Spell Against the Wall tonight?" Virginia said, leaning into him provocatively.

Wolf couldn't keep his tongue from lolling out of his mouth. "Yeah. I think I could go for that."

But it wasn't all romantic. While they were walking around town, several people came up to shake Wolf's hand and thank him for saving them from invasion by the trolls just a short month before. One young lad even sang them a song that he'd made up in Wolf's honor to commemorate the event. The lyrics weren't all that good and the melody was repetitive. But the sentiment was clear. The people of Kissing Town considered Wolf a hero.

"Without you and your army of wolves," one old man with a scruffy white beard told them, "we would have been taken over like the Second Kingdom."

Wolf and Virginia nodded sympathetically at that. The Second Kingdom had indeed had the worst of The Giant War. That's what they were calling it, even though the trolls had been the dominant force. There had only been four giants involved (not counting Demetrius the good giant) but it had still been the first time any of them had actually gone to war.

Near the beginning of The Giant War, the Second Kingdom had been taken over and completely trashed by the trolls. Its monarch, Queen Red Riding Hood the Third had been roughed up by one of the giants, tortured by the trolls, and almost burned at the stake. But with the help of the wolves and the other forces of the Nine Kingdoms, the trolls and giants had been beaten. And Queen Red had been restored to her throne, a rather changed woman.

After leaving Kissing Town, Wolf and Virginia spent a couple of days in the nearby mountains. They snow shoed through the woods and sledded down a slope near where they were staying. They even rode on a horse drawn toboggan snuggled up together under several wool blankets by the light of the waning moon. The owner of the toboggan tried to get them to cover themselves with a heavy bear skin rug instead of the lighter blankets, explaining how much warmer it was. But Wolf refused.

"With bears you can never be too careful," he explained to Virginia as he wrapped the woolen blankets more tightly around his creamy dreamy girl. "There's no way of knowing whether that skin once belonged to a regular bear or an enchanted one."

"Enchanted bears?" Virginia asked. "What are they?"

"They look like a regular bear during the daytime. But at night, they take on the form of a human. A hunter might easily mistake an enchanted bear for a real one during the day. And with that in mind, no wolf would touch a bear skin rug. Although they might try and give it a decent burial."

Virginia found herself shivering at the thought. Wolf pulled her closer and buried his face in her lengthening hair. The bells on the toboggan jingled merrily as the driver urged the horse on.

"A bear by day and a human by night," Virginia said. "I think I've heard stories about that. Isn't that supposed to be the result of a curse?"

"Oh, no!" Wolf said. "There may be some people cursed that way. But enchanted bears are that way naturally."

"And are there a lot of these enchanted bears?"

"I doubt if there are that many left. You see, this goes back to that land beyond the Fifth Kingdom that you didn't want me to talk about anymore because it was too scary. The one on the other side of the magic barrier where the ring says he's from. Well, at some point in time there was no barrier. And the story goes that wolves and enchanted bears were allies. Then for some reason most of the bears left and the magic barrier went up. A few wolves and bears were caught on the wrong side. Wolves are very loyal to their friends, you know. So to honor that time when we were allies, wolves try to treat bears with great respect."

"I see."

"Wolves and bears were closer then," the singing ring agreed.

"They called each other brother, friend.

One chose to go, the other stay.

Reunited they will fight one day."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Virginia asked.

"It's an old rhyme. I remember my wolf foster parents singing it to me when I was a cub. It's supposed to be an old prophecy. But who knows? Mostly it's been passed down to teach young wolflings to respect bears."

"Wolves and bears were closer then," the ring started again.

"They called each other brother, friend."

"I think you've started something. I hope he's not going to sing that all night now," Virginia said.

"Huff puff!" Wolf growled, pulling his wife closer. "Who cares! As long as I've got my succulent wife to nibble on."

After their stay in the mountains, Wolf and Virginia spent a week visiting all the romantic spots in the First Kingdom. There were quite a lot of them. After all, this was the land where Cinderella had found and married her charming prince. They visited the cottage where Cinderella grew up. And took a tour of Honeymoon Castle where Cinderella and her prince had met and spent most of their married life together. It was called Honeymoon Castle, because it was said that their marriage was one perpetual honeymoon. Then there was the Love Chapel where they were married, and Heart Mansion where they went when they wanted to be alone. It was also the birthplace of their daughter Ashley, King Wendell's mother.

Last but not least, Wolf and Virginia went to see the crown jewels because they included the famous glass slippers. Virginia couldn't help herself. She gasped at the sight of them. They were seated deeply in a black velvet pillow and gave off a soft blue light that occasionally sparkled with silver.

"Oh, they're beautiful," she whispered to Wolf. "What makes them glow like that?"

"No one really knows," Wolf answered. "But some say they have the spark of life."

"Do they have any magical powers?"

"I'm afraid you'd have to ask Queen Cinderella about that. Although some say they're gifted with a love spell and that wearing them is what made the prince fall in love with her."

"Really?" Virginia asked. Shoes with a love spell? She could almost believe it. She felt very drawn to them, almost as if they were sparkling just for her. "Do you feel any pull from them?" she asked her husband.

"Pull?" The line between Wolf's eyebrows deepened. "No. I don't think so. Maybe they don't work on me because I'm already in love."

"Or maybe it's just a myth. Still, I could stand here all day and look at them."

"Maybe they are alive and they're just trying to communicate with you."

"Maybe," Virginia said with a smile, her blue eyes sparkling as brilliantly as the slippers. Funny. The shoes almost seemed to be smiling back at her.

On the last leg of their honeymoon Wolf and Virginia wandered into the Fifth Kingdom to see the tower where the witch had once imprisoned the Lady Rapunzel. Here again they were expecting a leisurely and romantic time. But it was not to be. Not long after they'd entered the Fifth Kingdom, an honor guard sent by Old King Cole himself met their carriage. Of course Wolf and Virginia were honored by the honor. But they tried to refuse it because they wanted to be alone.

"Oh," Wolf moaned, leaning out of their rented carriage. "It's our honeymoon. Don't you understand? We want to be alone. Two's company, but a platoon is a crowd."

"We'll be as discreet as discreet can be," the head guardsman said. He was an eager young man with an eager young face that was fringed with straw blond hair on all sides. "King Cole said that he couldn't allow a Prince of your stature to travel unescorted."

"But we're just here to look at Rapunzel's tower and maybe stay overnight. We really don't need an escort even a discreet one."

"King Cole would especially want us to accompany you to the tower!" the young guardsman insisted. "After all, it's basically a monument to his mother. He would want to make sure you were both properly welcomed."

Virginia was sitting on the other side of Wolf in the carriage and was blocked from the sight of the guards. "I don't think you're gonna talk them into going away," she whispered to Wolf's back. "They've got their orders. They'd probably get in trouble if they went against them."

"Oh, very well," Wolf growled. "But try and give us as much space as possible. We're on our honeymoon!"

"Of course, your Highness," the young guardsman answered with a broad smile. "We'll be as discreet as discreet can be." He waved at his fellow guards with his heavily gloved hand. Immediately half of the men moved in front of Wolf and Virginia's carriage and the rest followed behind.

As they started up again, Virginia buried herself in her husband's arms. "Why do you think King Cole would 'especially' want us accompanied to Rapunzel's tower?"

"I don't know. I guess because, like the man said, Rapunzel was the King's mother and it's basically a monument to her. Royalty can be very proper sometimes."

Virginia played with the top button of Wolf's shirt and admired the dark hairs that peaked out just above it. She wasn't thinking particularly about seeing Rapunzel's tower at that moment. Hopefully there was a nice quiet inn nearby where they could go afterwards for an early dinner and a warm bed. "I just hope they don't plan to give you a parade or something," she said. "For a while I was afraid they were going to do that in Kissing Town."

"Cripes! I hope not," Wolf said. "All that fuss and bother. And we just want to be alone."

But when they arrived at the tower, it became all too clear why King Cole had sent them the honor guard.

Rapunzel's tower was a busy place, regularly visited by school children and courting couples. There was a great throng of people on hand. Wolf and Virginia were recognized almost immediately. And almost immediately the taunts and garbage started flying in their direction.

"Boo!" one person yelled. "We don't want no wolves here!"

"Go back where you came from!" another called.

"The only good wolf is a dead wolf!"

"My man's dead 'cause of you!" a woman with a dark scarf over her head screamed. "'Cause of your dirty war!"

"My brother's dead too!" a little boy with a runny nose cried, flinging leftover pieces of a sandwich at them.

"Ain't no proclamation here gonna make you royalty! You're still a dirty wolf!"

"Why'd ya have to drag us into your war?"

"And kill our men?"

"And make our babies go hungry?"

"Dirty wolves! Go back where you came from!"

It was a good thing the honor guard was there to hold the crowd back.

Wolf and Virginia gave up all thought of seeing Rapunzel's Tower. Instead they ran back into their carriage and started away at the command of the lead guardsman. They were amazed. They'd been hailed as heroes in Kissing Town and treated with respect in other areas of the Fourth Kingdom. In the First Kingdom, when they'd been recognized, they'd always been greeted as royalty.

"I guess they're not happy about getting involved in The Giant War," Virginia said.

"I'll bet they're not happy about all those pro-wolf proclamations either," Wolf said scratching his head. He shivered with remembrance at some of the other nasty mobs he'd met over time.

Virginia saw the look on her husband's face and instinctively pulled him closer. "I'm glad King Cole sent that honor guard. I guess it wasn't just about his mother."

Since they weren't any where near the border of the Fifth Kingdom at that point, there was nothing to do but stop for the night. If it had only been him, Wolf would have been glad to sleep in the woods, well out of the way of people. But it was cold and his pregnant wife needed shelter. So, they stopped at a tiny inn. The owners were thrilled to have them. After all, royalty generally had money. But everyone else made it quite clear that they weren't wanted.

One of the chambermaids spit at Wolf and Virginia in the hallway. Another refused to bring them an extra blanket, muttering how they'd have to burn everything they touched as it was. And the owner of the local tavern refused to serve them. "We don't want your kind here," he said.

In the end Wolf and Virginia ate in their room. The eager young guardsman purchased their meals for them and brought them up. "Don't you worry, your Highnesses," he said. "I'll have two men outside your door and two under your window all night. You'll be perfectly safe. And anyhow, I don't expect trouble. This anger isn't personal."

"It's not?" Virginia asked incredulously. "You could have fooled me."

"Naw. It's King Cole they're really mad at. Folks here in the Fifth Kingdom didn't want to be in that Giant War. It wasn't on their border and they didn't think it had anything to do with them. It interfered with harvest time and took men and supplies. Now there's less money to go around with winter coming. And some men, of course, didn't come home."

"But the elves got involved," Virginia pointed out. "And the fighting didn't affect them directly either."

"It's true. But around here folks think the trolls attacked the Fourth Kingdom on account of what happened to King Relish, so that was just between Wendell and the trolls. And they think the Second Kingdom fell on account of Queen Red's own foolishness. They don't think they should have gotten involved at all."

"Well, their anger still seems personal to me."

"Maybe they feel you folks got the spoils of the war. After all, you both got titles. And one day Prince Wolf here might get to be King of the Second Kingdom."

Wolf flinched at the young man's words, but said nothing. Being a prince was bad enough; the last thing he wanted was to be a king. That job just had too much responsibility. There were too many ways to make a mistake and too many people to please. Worst of all, you had to live inside all the time and act sensibly. How could you have fun living like that? As far as he was concerned, it was one step away from being in prison again. He would have preferred to turn down the title. But because it brought honor to his people, he had accepted it. Now when someone called him Prince Wolf, they were in a way saying that all wolves were princes. Personally, though, Wolf felt more like a country cub.

"People here figure they financed The Giant War with their blood and supplies, but they didn't get nothing out of it," the young guardsman continued. "Course, that's not how I see it. I've been a soldier almost since I could walk and talk. My dad was a soldier, and his dad before him. I know those trolls and I know they woulda come swingin' their swords over here right after they took over the Fourth Kingdom. They've been wanting a war for a long time. We were in just as much danger as you all were."

"They don't seem happy about the pro-wolf proclamations either," Virginia said in a low voice.

"No, your Highness. Truth be told, they don't. They don't think they have anything to be grateful to wolves for. The wolves fought real hard for the First and Fourth Kingdoms, and the Second Kingdom too in the end. But no wolves took up arms to defend this Kingdom." The young guardsman shook his head. "Course that was because they were driven off, but no one thinks on that. And they wouldn't have trusted wolves with arms anyway. But foolish or no, the anger against King Cole and the wolves is increasing. It makes people feel better about their hardships to have someone to blame. Sorry you had to come in the middle of it."

Wolf wandered aimlessly to the fire, his shoulders falling low from the burden. How much more were they supposed to do, he wondered?

"'Course, I don't mean no disrespect in telling you this," the eager young guardsman said. "I served in the Giant War with some of our soldiers under King Wendell. I met your sister Princess Rose. May I say I never met a more trustworthy soldier, or a better commander." He bowed his head in homage. "Just thought you had a right to know what's going on. King Cole was afraid there might be some objection to your coming here. So, when he heard you were moving toward our border from the First Kingdom, he assigned me to come with a troop of guards to look out for you. Truth be told, neither of us thought things would be this bad."

"Thank you," Virginia said. "We appreciate your telling us the truth."

"Hope you enjoy your dinner," the young guardsman said. Then he bowed low and left quickly.

"No matter what he says, it still feels personal," Virginia remarked.

"Always does," Wolf said.

Needless to say, they didn't enjoy their food much. Nor did they sleep well, even though the singing ring tried its best to sooth them with song. They knew they wouldn't be comfortable until they got out of the Fifth Kingdom. So they left the next morning as early as possible.

They paid the driver of their carriage extra to take them all the way back to Wendell's castle. In the other places they'd visited, they'd paid off their carriage on arrival, and then hired a new one to take them on to their next stop. That way, they could stay an indefinite length of time and not have to worry about paying a carriage to stand by. But the way things were in the Fifth Kingdom, they felt safer remaining with the same driver.

King Cole's honor guard saw them all the way to the border of the Fourth Kingdom and a little beyond.

It was just as the young guardsman had said. The people of the Fifth Kingdom were angry at being dragged into The Giant War. And the proclamations put out by the Council of Truth during the war had infuriated them further. It had only been a short time before that King Cole had refused to endorse King Wendell's proclamation naming wolves as heroes. A great many wolves had left the Fifth Kingdom for the Fourth because of it. Then along came The Giant War and suddenly everything was different.

It all came about in this way. While working to get the giants to join them in a war against the rest of the Kingdoms, Relish's children sent Virginia back in time two hundred years to punish her for their father's death. They also hoped that when Wolf inevitably went off to search for his wife that the other wolves involved in the war would drop out of it. Unfortunately for the troll children, the wolves kept on fighting. Taking this as an opportunity, Snow White sent Virginia and Wolf and Tony on a quest to investigate the past doings of Red Riding Hood's family. The three of them wore slivers of the Mirror of Truth so that the Council of Truth might view everything they saw in the present.

The Council of Truth was made up of five members of the ruling body of the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. They were Queen Matilde of the Eighth Kingdom, Queen Leaf Fall of the Seventh Kingdom, Queen Cinderella of the First Kingdom, King Eranthis of the underground Ninth Kingdom of the dwarves, and Old King Cole of the Fifth Kingdom, son of the Lady Rapunzel. These Five made several rulings based on what they saw in the Mirror of Truth.

In their first proclamation, they found that Red Riding Hood had not been attacked by Aesophocles the wolf out of innate bloodthirstiness, but in revenge for the killing of his wife. His actions were found to be a crime, but they weren't held to be representative of his entire race.

Then it was discovered that Wolf and his sister Rose were really the elder children of Scarlet, Red Riding Hood's elder daughter. So, it was decided that although Scarlet had abdicated the throne in favor of her sister, her surviving children would still be in the line of succession after their cousin, Red Riding Hood the Third. Along with their new status came titles. Wolf was now a prince and his beautiful red-haired sister was a princess. A distant cousin of theirs, Maria Thompson, was named third in line.

You'd think the people of the Second Kingdom, with Wolf as heir apparent, would be the angriest. But that wasn't so. They were far too busy in the Second Kingdom putting themselves back together. Winter was increasing in strength. Survival came first. Besides, many people in the Second Kingdom had noticed that Wolf and his sister had played a large part in freeing their Queen and their country from the trolls and the giants. The presence of these few would make it easier to mend differences after things went back to normal.

The Fifth Kingdom, however, needed someone to blame for dragging them into a war they didn't want, for the loss of their men, their supplies, and their reduced harvest. King Cole and the wolves served this purpose very well.


	3. Home Sweet Castle

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Home Sweet Castle**

Wolf and Virginia returned from their honeymoon just two days before Wolf's sister Rose and King Wendell were to be married. Everything was bustling at the castle. In fact, the celebration had spread throughout the entire Fourth Kingdom. Everyone everywhere was planning to feast and cheer the royal couple. The war had been over almost a month. And only a short time before that, the Evil Queen had been dispatched. Everyone embraced this wedding as a hope for new beginnings. Those who grumbled about the King marrying a half-wolf were simply ignored. Rose was considered a war hero. She had served bravely on the field of battle in defense of her newly adopted country and in the process she'd won the hearts of many.

"Look at that," Wolf said as their carriage clip-clopped into the castle courtyard.

Virginia stared out the window and saw two great banners hanging on either side of the castle entrance. "They look like coats of arms."

"They are," Wolf said, nodding his head vigorously. "The one on the left is Wendell's. You see, before the Five Women Who Changed History came along, a royal coat of arms was passed unchanged from generation to generation, patterned after the male side of the family. But after that, each queen maintained her family crest. And the royal children took on aspects of both their parents' coat of arms. The one on the left is Wendell's."

Virginia positioned herself so she could see better over Wolf's shoulder. Wendell's banner was white with a fierce looking gray dragon in the center. In the upper and lower right corners was a fawn colored sheaf of wheat. And in the upper and lower left corners was a blue slipper not unlike Cinderella's glass slippers.

"The dragon is there because Wendell's grandfather on his father's side came from a long line of dragon slayers," Wolf explained. "That dragon has stood at the center of their banner for a very long time."

"Oh," Virginia said. She had seen dragon bones when she and her father had gone to Dragon Mountain back when King Wendell was under the dog spell. She knew how large they had been and she was glad they were now extinct. Or at least, that was what everyone believed.

"The white background is for Snow White," Wolf said. "The other two parts of the banner are from Wendell's mother's side of the family. His mother was Cinderella's daughter, you know. The wheat represents the mostly agrarian society of the First Kingdom. And of course, the slippers represent Cinderella's famous glass slippers."

"O.K. So the banner on the left is Wendell's coat of arms. Who's the other banner for?"

Wolf's expression got very serious. "That's the interesting part. That coat of arms is similar to the one belonging to Red Riding Hood the Third."

"Really?" Virginia looked harder at the banner. It had a black background with a green maple tree standing at its center. The tree was wound around with a great flowing piece of red cloth. In each of the corners was the figure of a gray wolf, looking noble and brave. "How is this coat of arms different from Queen Red's?"

"Hers has a white horse in armor in each of the corners instead of the wolves. Red's father was an untitled soldier when he married Red's mother. He designed his banner in the form of an armored white horse on a black background to represent the military. No doubt this new banner with the wolves is supposed to be Rose's and mine. At least, I guess so."

The carriage turned and stopped at the foot of the castle steps.

"Since I married a prince, do I have to come up with a coat of arms too?" Virginia asked flippantly.

"What?" Wolf was too busy sticking his head out the carriage door to hear properly.

Virginia playfully pounded on her husband's heavy black wool coat to get his attention. They had both bought new clothes during their trip. First, because the winter weather was now getting serious and second because of Virginia's growing pregnancy. She seemed to be getting bigger by the day. Both Wendell's physician and her sister-in-law Rose had told her that being pregnant with a wolf cub would be different. The first trimester would be about gaining weight. Morning sickness wouldn't hit till the second trimester. And the good feeling most human women get in the second trimester wouldn't show up till the third. "I SAID," Virginia repeated, "does that mean I have to come up with a coat of arms too?"

Wolf still didn't seem to hear. He was far too taken with the wolf coat of arms. "Rose couldn't have taken the central part of Red Riding Hood's banner without the present Queen's permission," he said. "I can't believe it!"

There were various bumping sounds as the coachman unfolded the ladder from his perch and climbed down.

"You said Queen Red had changed a lot," Virginia said.

"It's true," Wolf said. "Queen Red was a broken woman when they brought her back to her kingdom after the war. All her egotism was gone. And I sensed this strange connection between her and my sister Rose. But goodness gracious me, I can't believe all this change."

"War can change things fast. That's what my dad said about the Vietnam War in our world."

"Hmm?" Wolf said, his head still out the window.

"Forget it," Virginia said. She didn't feel up to explaining the Vietnam War. To her generation it was ancient history anyway.

The coachman opened the door to the coach and Wolf jumped out. Then both men reached up to help Virginia down. Her feet had hardly touched the light dusting of snow on the ground before the castle's most perfect butler came gliding down the castle steps to meet them. Things had been busy for him since Wolf and Virginia had left. Because of his loyalty in staying at the castle throughout the recent war, he had been promoted to Head Butler and was now in charge of all guests arriving for the wedding.

"Prince Wolf," the perfect butler said, giving him the properly apportioned bow for his station. "Princess Virginia. The King will be so glad to hear of your return."

"Thank you," Virginia said. Unlike Wolf, she had begun to like the idea of being called Princess. Not in the egotistical sense, mind you. She wasn't going to start wearing ridiculously fussy gowns and ordering people about. It reminded her too much of her mother, the woman the people in the Nine Kingdoms called the Evil Queen. "When exactly is the wedding?"

"In just two days," the perfect butler answered. He turned to the coachman and said, "Go around back. You can send the Prince and Princess's things to their room from there."

The coachman nodded his understanding and bowed to his passengers.

"Thank you," Virginia said, warmly.

The coachman answered only with a nod and a smile as he climbed back onto his coach. Except for the rude way he'd been treated overnight at the inn in the Fifth Kingdom, this had been an easy fare for him. He'd been as grateful for the special troops of King Cole's as Wolf and Virginia had been. Other than that, the honeymoon couple had been far too busy concentrating on each other to notice the bumps in the road or the slowness of his horses. He'd had no complaints from them at all. And he liked the extra money they'd given him to finish the journey. On top of that, he'd have plenty of stories to tell his mates at the pub when he got back to the First Kingdom. All about how brave he'd been in the face of the nasty throngs in the Fifth Kingdom. And how his driving had gotten them clean away before anyone could follow. Yes, sir. He'd drink free on those stories for quite some time.

"We're keeping the courtyard clear for wedding guests," the perfect butler explained. "No one is expected until tonight. But you can never tell. Someone may be early. I think it's easier if the carriages unload their passengers here and their cargo at the back."

"Very sensible," Wolf agreed.

"Besides," the perfect butler said offering his arm to Virginia as they reached the foot of the castle stairs, "the Princess shouldn't be carrying anything in her condition."

"I appreciate that," Virginia said, taking the butler's arm with one hand and Wolf's with the other. The dusting of snow from that morning had already been swept off the castle steps. But it was best not to take chances. Virginia's quick weight gain had left her feeling off balance. She wasn't enormous yet. But she was such a small woman that any weight change seemed like a lot. "By the way," Virginia said as they climbed. "What's your name?"

"Herbert, Ma'am. Herbert Winchester."

"Well, Herbert, could you tell me where my father is?"

"He's in his workshop I believe Ma'am."

"I think we'll go see him first. Don't you think?" Virginia asked her husband. But her tone and step made it sound more like a proclamation.

Wolf winced and wondered what excuse he could give to escape the impending father and daughter reunion. As their honeymoon trip had gone on, Virginia had talked about her father and Matilde less and less. But he still felt it was going to be a sticky issue.


	4. Chapter 4 Father and Daughter

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Father and Daughter**

Lord Anthony Lewis, Inventor to the King, had a workshop outside at the back of Wendell's castle. It was a hut really, with only one small fireplace to give it warmth. Considering the time of the year, it was more than just a bit chilly. But no one inside seemed to notice. When Wolf and Virginia walked in, they found his lordship looking very unlordly in a pair of dirty overalls and a heavy workshirt. He looked more like the janitor he'd once been in New York City. Only he was in charge now and the position seemed to suit him.

"No, no, no!" Lord Lewis explained for the millionth time to the two workmen standing at his desk. "There's lots of banging in the pipes because there's air on the line. Not because of gremlins. Believe me. We need to go in and fix it here." Tony pointed to the smudged plans on his paper-cluttered desk. A month ago his workshop had been filled with cannon pieces and cannon balls. Now there were endless piles of metal pipe in every corner with an occasional radiator here and there.

"I don't know, Milord," the older worker said. He had white hair that stood out indiscriminately in various tufts over his head. And his lower lip seemed to have an extraordinary ability to stick out almost to the tip of his nose. He and his partner were both dressed similarly to Tony, in overalls and heavy workshirts. "What you say makes sense. But if there ARE gremlins in there. I don't think we should go in till we have the right charm to fight 'em off."

Tony closed his brown eyes as he tried hard to find the strength. He still hadn't heard his daughter and son-in-law come in. A sigh of exasperation escaped him and he said, "Look. We'll go there together and I'll show you. I'll fix it this time. Then you can do it if it happens again. It probably will because we haven't worked out all the kinks in the system yet."

"Well, I don't know if I should," the workman said.

"Look. It'll be fine. Trust me."

"Daddy?" Virginia said.

Tony looked up. As soon as he saw his little girl, a smile filled his face. Everything else in the room just disappeared. "Oh, honey! You're back!" He raced to his daughter's side and gave her a hug bigger than any Virginia could remember. "You look wonderful," he said, pulling back. "But I shouldn't be touching you. I've been mucking around with the castle's new boiler all day. Wendell wants it done before the wedding guests start arriving tonight. But I don't know. It's asking a lot. There's some steam engine technology here already, but nothing's ever been tried on this vast a scale before. I can't do it all by myself and a lot of the locals feel uncertain about the work." Tony reached past his daughter and patted Wolf warmly on the back. "How ya doing?" he said jovially. "Did you feel how warm it was in the castle when you came through?"

"Fine," Wolf said with a nervous smile.

"It was more comfortable than any of the other places we've been in so far," Virginia agreed.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. Since you've been gone, I've done very little else but work on this and the plans for the hydroelectric power for the dwarves at Dragon Mountain. King Eranthis is coming to the wedding and I want to be able to give him the plans before he leaves."

"Milord?" the older workman said, his lower lip coming dangerously close to his nose again.

"Oh. You're right," Tony said. "We've got to get back to the boiler. You go on ahead and I'll catch up with you."

"But I don't think as we should do anything unless we have a charm against gremlins. Just in case we need it. Now…" The older worker put his hand on his hip and looked as if he were about to settle into a long story. "Maybe you don't know gremlins like I do. They're a kind of gnome. Only they don't live in the ground like good decent gnomes do. They like to live inside the walls of old buildings where they steal food and an array of little trinkets. Any time you do work like we're doing, you disturb them. Then they do their best to mess up all your hard work so you'll go away and leave everything as it was. Now, my wife has an aunt who knows all about charms. She's done them ever since she was a girl. Comes from living on the edge of the Disenchanted Forest. If I was to send her word tonight, I'm sure she'd have a charm here for us in about two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Tony exclaimed. "No, no, no. We've only got a couple of hours."

"But I don't see how we can go in there without a charm. You don't know them gremlins maybe, but I do. They can be real nasty buggers when they get ornery. Why my brother met one once while putting a new roof on a barn and..."

"Look!" Tony said, holding up his hand. "If I go and ask Queen Matilde to make us a charm, will you come back and help me work on the boiler?"

"Yep. Don't care who makes the charm. Just so long as we got one. You just don't know them gremlins like I do."

"O.K. Why don't you go take a coffee break and I'll go and talk to her." Tony scratched his face with his right hand and left a dark smudge near his nose. "I think she's in King Wendell's office."

"Coffee? No, Milord. Coffee's for heathens. Not genteel folk like we got here in the Fourth Kingdom."

"Forgive me. I should have known better. All right. Go drink whatever you want as long as it's not alcoholic. We've got lots of work to do before dinner tonight."

"Sure thing, Milord. We'll be in the kitchen."

"Fine."

As soon as the workmen were gone, Tony said, "It's been like this all the way along. Superstition just crops up everywhere."

"But gremlins really can be nasty," Wolf said seriously. "Especially in an old castle like this."

"Look, I know how crazy this place is," Tony said. "But there isn't anything magical about this noise. It's just air on the line. That's all it is. After all my years as a janitor, I know what air on the line sounds like. I hate bothering Matilde about this. But getting them a charm is the only thing that will get them back to work."

"So..." Virginia said. "Matilde is still here?"

Wolf took a step backward. This was the discussion he was hoping to avoid. "I think I'll go and see if they brought our luggage to the right room," he said, heading for the door.

Tony looked at Wolf strangely, but said nothing. He was pretty used to his son-in-law's impulsive style by now. Virginia didn't even glance around as Wolf threw open the door and quickly escaped. The words, "Excuse me" drifted back weakly as the door closed again.

"So, Matilde is still here?" Virginia repeated.

Tony moved to get a cloth from a corner of his desk so he could wipe his hands. "Yeah. She's been handling most of the Council's business from here. She's just made a couple of short trips to the Third and Second Kingdoms."

"Are you still involved with her?" Virginia's tone was slightly disapproving, like a parent who was objecting to its child's new playmate.

Tony threw aside his cloth and leaned against his desk. "I told you before you left that things were getting serious. But you didn't seem to believe me."

Virginia cleared her throat and adjusted her stance slightly. "I didn't. I mean. How could I? You hardly know each other. And there you were being..." Virginia wanted to say intimate, but couldn't quite bring herself to it. She had as much trouble dealing with the idea of her father having a sex life, as he had had with the idea of her having one. "Being...more than just friends. I mean she's a five hundred year old fairy queen, from a kingdom entirely encased in ice. And there you are a recently widowed man who used to be a janitor. And…how could you? With mother just dead?"

"Virginia," Tony said patiently, "your mother ran out on us a long time ago. And my relationship with her had basically ended well before that."

"But you still loved her and hoped she'd come back."

"For a while maybe. But the longer she was gone, the more I realized that it was for the best. Her trying to drown you was the absolute last straw. Like I told you when we met her here again at Wendell's castle, whoever that woman was, she was no longer your mother. Not to me. Maybe some of her dying words were a comfort to you. But all these years later, all I could see was that she tried to kill you again."

"Maybe she's in a better place now."

"Maybe." Tony turned away and started shuffling papers on his desk.

"I just think it's too soon for you to get involved again."

Tony sighed deeply. "Haven't you been listening to me?"

"Yes, but..."

"I haven't been involved with anybody in a very long while. And it's time I got some happiness." Tony turned around to face his daughter. "For years you put your mother on some kind of pedestal and didn't want to hear anything bad about her. Now you want to put me on a pedestal too, a romantic symbol of lost love, pining on into eternity for your mother. But the truth is I haven't loved your mother for a very long time. She wasn't my one true love like Wolf says you are. I thought I loved her at first. I mean, she was certainly beautiful and exciting. And I liked having all the other men envy me. But there was never any real closeness between us, not like there is with Matilde. I need real intimacy. I've come to realize that your mother and I were a mistake from the beginning. You're the one precious thing I got out of that whole mess. I'd do it all again if it still got me you. But I won't live on top of a cold pedestal for you. That's where I draw the line."

"I just don't want you to get hurt. You and Matilde are both so different."

"Yeah well, you and Wolf aren't exactly from the same world either. Matilde and I deserve our chance for happiness, just like you two do. In fact, we're planning to be married in a couple of weeks. We didn't make any formal announcement yet because we didn't want to take any thunder away from Rose and Wendell. But I think everybody pretty much knows. We're planning a very small wedding. Just family. It'll break poor Rupert's heart, I know. But we've both been married before and we don't want a whole lotta hoopla."

Virginia looked down at her feet.

"I just hope you can find it in your heart to be happy for us. Now, I'd better get on and get that charm. Or we'll never get the boiler ready in time for dinner." And with that, Tony walked past his daughter and out.

The little workshop got very quiet after he'd gone. Suddenly, Virginia felt very cold.


	5. Chapter 5 Coven

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Coven**

In the dark caves off the coast of the Sixth Kingdom, Mazarin's twenty followers were once again walking clockwise inside their circle of stones, with Mazarin himself standing at the center. This time they were chanting a spell in English which the Master had created especially for the occasion.

"In your tomb deep in the ground," Mazarin and his followers chanted,

"You will stay and not be found.

Though they clamor night and day,

You will stay there locked away."

"Neither will you see, nor call,

For in slumber you will fall.

There to stay, well out of sight.

No one now can reach Snow White."

As they spoke, the magic of their words reached into the depths of Dragon Mountain. Drawing the spirit of Snow White back into her tomb and into a slumber that rivaled the one her wicked stepmother had placed on her so long ago. She tried to resist, but the practiced power of the coven was strong and had caught her off guard. Before she could reach out to Gustav the old mirror, or to Virginia's singing ring she was asleep and completely out of the reach.

Mazarin's consort, Zafira had told him about Snow White's involvement in the Evil Queen's undoing and her role in the Council of Truth's recent proclamations. Mazarin was the same age as Matilde. He had seen the Five Great Women Who Changed History come to power and he resented all of them. He'd preferred the chaos that had reigned before and had tried to return to that during The Magic War. He knew that Snow White's ability as a fairy godmother and her talent with mirrors were a great threat to him. It was only a matter of time before she realized he was back. So she had to be silenced. Mazarin chose this method of disabling her chiefly because of her situation.

Since Snow White was already dead, there was no way they could kill her. She had inherited enough of her mother's fairy blood and amassed enough magical power to continue on in something greater than a ghost-like state. In her case, her powers were centered in her tomb. That was why she had met Virginia there during that troubling time when Wendell had been losing his mind to the dog spell and her father had lain helpless with a broken back. If Mazarin could have found Snow White's tomb and destroyed it, he could have sent her spirit on to the next step in its journey, just as he had King Centaurea when the barrier to his prison was broken. But it wasn't that easy. In order to destroy Snow White's tomb, he had to pinpoint where it was. And everyone knew that it moved magically from place to place through the caverns of Dragon Mountain. It was still moving, even now as she slept inside of it. But at least she was no longer a danger to them.

"We don't have to worry about her anymore," Mazarin announced with assurance.

"Praise be, Master," Zafira said, falling to her knees before him.

"Praise be," the other nineteen echoed.

"The power of our coven is growing," Mazarin said. "It is time to take it to new heights." He stepped past his paramour and slowly moved around the circle of his followers, touching each of them with his searing gaze. "Till now, you've found your strength in banding together in this one small circle, focusing your energy in one place. But I will teach you how to broaden your power, so that it can cover a wide area, even as you spread yourselves out. We will create a circle around the Nine Kingdoms and work toward a spell that will encompass all of it. It will take time to build up the power necessary, maybe as much as a year. But what does that matter when we have already waited thirty. Ridding ourselves of Snow White's interference is only the beginning."

In the years following his defeat, Mazarin had realized that he had tried to depend too much on his own power. So when Zafira told him that his followers had gathered together in a group, he knew destiny was tugging at his sleeve. It was time to return to the fabled strength of the coven, of a group of individuals all focused on one purpose, one series of thoughts. It had taken a long while to get enough power to break out of his prison, but it had happened. The next step would be easier. Before long they would be unstoppable.

Mazarin thrust his onyx topped cane into the sand at his feet. "Now move back into the circle," he commanded.

His followers did as they were told.

"Walk counter clockwise as I perform this spell." Mazarin raised his cane as the others began to walk around him.

"The power of the circle will now be in us," Mazarin chanted,

"Wherever we go, it will follow thus.

Though parted we be, our circle will hold,

Its power increasing to levels untold."

"Now stop!" Mazarin commanded. "And each of you take a stone from the circle. I shall wear my amulet of jet." Mazarin touched the little brown piece of petrified wood at his chest. "These talismans will hold us together even as we travel separately across the Kingdoms. We will communicate by mirror and join our powers daily. Eventually, we will be strong enough to carry out the revenge that I have planned."

"Praise be!" the followers said.

"Where will you and I go?" Zafira asked, moving in closer to her Master. Her purple hood fell back onto her shoulders as she looked up at him, revealing her reddish brown hair piled on the top of her head. "We shouldn't stay here. Cinderella is supposed to come to the Sixth Kingdom after Wendell's wedding. She's to stay at the Snoring Castle for some time, while she works out the details for the Parliament with the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson. I hear she's bringing a large battalion of Ice Maidens with her."

"I agree," Mazarin said, nodding his head of shaggy brown and gray hair. "We should go."

"We can't go back to your castle. As I've told you, they've turned it into a prison. Since the war, they've increased the guards on it."

"With Snow White taken care of, perhaps we could go to Dragon Mountain."

Zafira saw the glint in his eyes and knew what he was thinking. He was hoping that over time they might be able to find the tomb of Snow White and destroy it. But with the dwarves and Gustav the old mirror in such close proximity, it was dangerous. "Master, when Snow White hasn't been heard from in a while, someone might begin to look for her. And they might find us instead."

"My magic will keep us shielded," Mazarin said dismissively.

"There is one power, though, that is greater than you. If Matilde orders her crystal ball to turn its cold eye upon the mountain, the ancient spirit within it will have no trouble piercing your shield."

"The crystal." Mazarin's eyes lost some of their sparkle. "My greatest enemy. It's a good thing it doesn't have the power to act on its own. It can only answer if it is asked and act if it is bidden. And can only serve Matilde or one of her blood relatives. But Matilde…" A weary sigh escaped the wizard. "She's just enough of a busybody to go in search of Snow White. Always running about fixing the world. If she'd stayed with me, she could have owned it."

Zafira didn't like it when Mazarin spoke of his one time love. Her voice and expression hardened, but Mazarin didn't notice. He never noticed Zafira's feelings. "I think I have a safe place," Zafira said, her right eyebrow arching high above the left. "They've permanently imprisoned King Relish's children on Hunter's Island, off shore of the Third Kingdom. It's a good distance from the main land. And as you know, it has an old castle on it that was once used for hunting parties by Gretel the Great. Princess Alicia, the Ice Maiden, has put a magic barrier around the island. It's supposed to keep out all magical and non-magical beings, except for game birds and fish. There are no guards on it. No one is watching. Princess Alicia's power is not nearly as great as Matilde and Centaurea's were. It would be simple for our coven to pierce a doorway in the barrier. Then we could pass in and out using fairy dust. We would be free to continue our work without fear."

Mazarin stroked his graying brown beard thoughtfully. "I like it. It has irony. We will hide in this island prison. And in a short time, we will be the only ones free."

"The problem is the three trolls."

"Trolls!" Mazarin spat out the word.

"We could kill them," Zafira suggested.

"We could. But I'd rather use them as servants. I've been away a long time, Zafira. Perhaps I can't claim my revenge yet. But at the very least I will have servants."

"Yes, Master."

"What else are non-magical beings good for anyway? Humans, animals, trolls. It's all the same. They live short lives, have low intelligence, and are like dirt in the road to those of us with magical powers."


	6. Chapter 6 Jealousy

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Jealousy**

Virginia didn't notice the change in temperature as she went back into the castle. If it was warmer inside, she couldn't feel it. But she certainly heard the banging and clanging of the new heating system as the hot water moved through the new pipes in the walls and the new radiators in the hallways. She could also smell that funny dry smell of heat coming up. Flippantly, she wondered how her father expected to get everything working in only a few hours. Boilers had never been one of his specialties.

When she got to her room, she opened the door sharply and slammed it behind her. The heavy wooden door shook to its hinges. A couple of talking mice in the walls were startled and ran off to one of the upper floors.

"Can you believe the noise around here lately?" the fat mouse said to the skinny one.

"No!" the skinny one answered, scurrying faster. "Things certainly aren't as they used to be. I might enjoy the warmer walls. But not if they're going to be this loud!"

Of course Virginia didn't hear any of their conversation because it was inside the walls. But if she had, it would have made her slam the door again to make them run faster.

Wolf would have loved to run too, but he couldn't. This was his room and his wife. And though he'd been hoping to stay out of it, it was beginning to look as if there was no escape. "Oh," he said, trying to sound offhanded. "You're back."

"Dad makes me so angry sometimes."

"How about a snack? I know it's not long before dinner, but we missed lunch. I thought it might be nice to have something hot before the fire. See. I tried to make it all look romantic." Wolf rolled the "r" in romantic, hoping to get a smile from his wife.

Virginia didn't notice the romantic lighting or the sweet little indoor picnic that Wolf had arranged in front of the fire. She was far too busy pacing the floor from one side to the other, her shadow looming large behind her in the firelight. "I'm only thinking of him. That's all."

"I ordered each of us a hot rare roast beef sandwich on a roll with extra gravy and a big mug of hot chocolate."

Virginia came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the floor and started ripping off her winter coat. "He barely knows this…this fairy. And he wants to marry her? Mom just died. How can he even think of such a thing?"

Marriage huh, Wolf thought to himself. It must be really serious. Out loud he said, "I couldn't wait for you. I was much too hungry. But I saved yours. Come sit by the fire and eat."

Virginia flung her coat onto the bed. Her freckles looked as if they might pop off her face. "Can't he see that he should wait a while? Can't he see how different they are from each other?"

"Everything always looks better on a full stomach," Wolf said, patting the spot on the floor next to him.

"I don't want food! I just want to make Dad understand. I don't want him to be alone forever. But he should wait for a bit."

"You mean like we did?"

"That was different. We sort of had to get married."

Wolf shook his head firmly. "Not according to the customs in your world. While we were there I watched plenty of television. Women in your dimension have babies on their own all the time. On purpose even. You didn't marry me because of the baby. It just speeded things up. Now, you come over here and tell me what happened while you eat." Wolf got up from the floor and firmly guided his wife to the fireplace.

Virginia held back for a moment. Then she let herself be pulled along. "I'm not hungry," she said.

"Sure you are. You're just too angry to realize it. Now I've been very good in not eating your sandwich. Don't be ungrateful."

Virginia fell into a heap in front of the fireplace but still wouldn't eat. "I just want what's best for him, that's all. Doesn't he understand that?"

"Huff-puff. I certainly hope you're not going to browbeat our son like this."

"What?"

"You sound like you're talking about a child."

"Well, Dad is sort of a child."

"Maybe he was when I met you, but Tony's gotten a lot more self-sufficient since then."

"But he still shouldn't rush into things. Don't you agree?" Again it wasn't a question, it was a proclamation. She was demanding that he agree.

Wolf turned away and gazed into the fire, his eyebrows hightailing it up toward the widow's peak on his forehead. "Hmm. Now how would my self-help books tell me to answer that one?"

"Wolf!"

"All right, all right. I know you think you're suggesting he wait because you think it's for his own good. Or, maybe you think it's out of respect for your mother's memory. But the truth is you're jealous."

"Jealous?" Virginia said with surprise.

"Your father went through the same thing when we got together, remember? I've tried not to say anything about it, because I thought you'd get over it like he has. But since you ask, I think you're jealous." Wolf picked up the large ceramic mug that had once held his hot chocolate and licked off a stray bit of whipped cream.

"Jealous. Of Matilde?"

"One part of you really wants your father to be happy," Wolf said, dangling his mug with one finger. "Another part is conflicted about your feelings about your mother. But mostly, you don't like the idea of somebody else being first in your father's life. And you resent Tony for not needing you as much anymore. Even though you'd be really irritated if you still had to do everything for him."

"Back in New York my father couldn't do a thing for himself. He couldn't run the house or handle parking tickets or anything."

"I don't pretend to understand what Queen Matilde sees in your father, but he has changed an awful lot since he's come here. He's a respected war hero and a great inventor." The clanging from the freshly painted radiator near the door of their room interrupted Wolf briefly. "He's even putting in a heating system that will make Wendell's castle the envy of every royal personage and peasant in the Kingdoms."

"Too bad it's so noisy," Virginia said, her mouth falling into a pout.

"He'll get that fixed."

"You think?"

"It's time you stopped treating your father like a wayward cub and let him grow up. He'll always be a little strange, I grant you that. But it's time to let go. You need to concentrate on our growing family. Let Matilde worry about him from now on. It's not like you're losing him. You're just gaining a new pack mate. To wolves, a larger pack is always better than a small one. The larger the pack, the greater the power. And think what an advantage it will be for our cub to have a long-lived powerful queen for a grandmother. You just need to get past your jealousy. Now are you going to eat that sandwich or not? Because if you're not, I really want it."

"Fine. Then take it." Virginia jumped up from the floor with as much grace as her expanding middle and long skirt would allow. "I thought husbands were supposed to agree with their wives."

"Not when they're wrong," Wolf said honestly.

Of course that was not the answer Virginia wanted to hear. She growled with aggravation and stomped toward the door in four very big, very loud steps. She didn't slam the door behind her with quite as much venom this time. But there was still enough force to make some plaster fall loose from inside the walls.

"Boy," Wolf said, exchanging his empty mug for his wife's full one. "For such a small woman, she sure makes a lotta noise."


	7. Chapter 7 Other Reunions

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**Other Reunions**

Virginia immediately regretted slamming out of her room. She hadn't meant to get so angry at Wolf. And she really was hungry. But she was sure she was right. She wasn't being jealous. She was thinking of her father and the future and her mother. Matilde was certainly a good woman and all. But it just wasn't the right time and her father wasn't the right man. And she certainly wasn't jealous. If her father found the right woman she'd be thrilled, wouldn't she? Wolf had just said those things because he wanted her father out of their hair. Well, that was too bad, because like it or not her father was her responsibility. Maybe everyone thought highly of him now. But it was only a matter of time before he started to screw things up again and she'd have to bail him out.

One of the new radiators in the hallway interrupted her thoughts with its banging and clanging. Its racket only seemed to prove her right. Her father had been lucky in coming up with the cannon idea during The Giant War, she told herself. It had worked only because experienced military leaders were using them. If this whole boiler thing didn't work, he'd look like a fool again. Would Matilde be able to put up with that? How long would it be before Matilde decided to leave him for some older, more powerful being of some sort? She just didn't want her father to get hurt.

Not knowing where to go, Virginia wandered in the direction of the great marble staircase that wound regally from the top of the castle to the main floor. She stood looking down to the floor below, wondering if she should have a talk with Matilde directly. Or maybe, considering how hungry she was, she wondered if she should just go to the kitchen and ask for another sandwich. She ran her right foot over the top step and looked down at her scuffed black boots. She wasn't jealous, was she?

"Jealous is as jealous does," the singing ring sang, as if in answer to her thoughts.

"It's just the same as it always was.

Although you swear your concern is true,

There's less for him than there is for you."

"I don't need to hear from you too," Virginia said, covering the ring over with her right hand.

"Your Highness! There you are!" a voice called from the stairway just below her. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Virginia looked down to see Lord Rupert coming up. He was dressed in his favorite salmon pink velvet jacket. It was decorated with black braid and black cuffs, finished off with black pants and an especially shiny pair of black shoes. Next to him, Virginia felt positively drab in her wrinkled navy traveling dress.

"I have been combing the castle for you!" Lord Rupert said, throwing his arms wide. "There's a wedding to put together, you know. I need you for a fitting at once. Come, come! There's not a moment to lose." He scooped her up and thrust her toward the ascending staircase. "Princess Rose is on the floor above you. She's having the last fitting on her gown this very minute. And I need you to try on your matron of honor gown. I do hope you'll look well in emerald green."

There wasn't much Virginia could say or do. Rupert was like a tornado when he got like this. He just swept up everything in his path. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself in the doorway of a bedroom that was being used as a dressmaking facility. Rose was standing on a platform, encased in a wedding dress of white lace. There were mirrors on three sides of her and several glowing lamps that seemed to be lit with constantly changing magical forms instead of fire. Two women fussed at Rose's feet checking the length of the dress's hem. Another fluffed up the endless train behind her. A fourth fiddled with the lace veil on her head. Rose was staring at herself in one of the mirrors, looking very uncertain about the whole process.

Rupert pushed his way into the room first and gave Rose a once over. "Splendid, splendid!" he exclaimed. "The veil should be decorated with baby's breath at the top. And perhaps the train needs to be a bit longer. But it's absolutely perfect."

Rose sighed deeply. She didn't like being a life size fashion doll. She felt useless and frivolous.

"I still say the hair should be up," the woman who'd been working on Rose's veil decreed. She was the Royal Couturier's First Assistant and she wasn't used to having her opinions ignored.

"Nonsense!" Rupert said. "She'll look like an old maid. With her hair down she looks fresh and young and innocent."

"I think it makes her look a bit wild," the Couturier's First Assistant said, with a dour shake of her head.

"Nonsense. No one ever looked wild in lace!" Rupert clapped his hands three times and the other three young seamstresses stopped what they were doing. "Ladies, I need you to fetch the matron of honor gown at once. Then help Princess Rose out of her gown."

Rose turned around and saw Virginia for the first time. Finally a smile came over her face. "Oh, Virginia! You've come to rescue me." She tried to step off the platform, but Rupert pushed her back up.

"No your Highness!" Rupert said. "You mustn't move. The dress might catch on something and then we'd be in terrible trouble. There's only one more day before the wedding. We must be very careful. Penelope, help the Princess out of her gown."

Penelope was the given name of the Couturier's First Assistant. She made another face and undid the back of Rose's gown. Meanwhile the other three assistants got busy helping Virginia out of her navy traveling dress and into a rather poofy satin gown of bright emerald green. When the ensemble was complete with satin green shoes, Rupert pulled her over to one of the mirrors.

He squinted at Virginia's reflection and pursed his lips. "Hmm. It's just as I feared. Green is definitely not your color."

"Thank you," Virginia said wryly.

"Of course I meant that in the very best of ways. Blue is your shade."

"Don't worry," Virginia said. "I don't really think maid of honor gowns are supposed to be becoming. Where I come from, they never are."

"More's the pity," Rupert said with a deep sigh. "I gave you plenty of room for your, uh, growing midriff. But unfortunately empire waists don't become you."

"You need to be tall and slim and very bosomy to wear an empire gown right. Do the sleeves have to be so puffy?"

Rupert squinted hard at Virginia's reflection again. "I believe you're right. We'll trim those down and create just the tiniest bit of a train in the back."

"Thank you."

"Now. What kind of headdress should we do?"

It was Virginia's turn to sigh. In New York City hats were absolutely forbidden, even outside in the coldest weather. She'd softened on that because of Wolf's worrying nature and her pregnancy. But…"Do I really have to wear a hat inside?" she groaned.

"Well, I suppose now that your hair is longer, we could curl it the night before and give you a headband of baby's breath."

"Fine. Let's do that."

"So," Penelope the Couturier's First Assistant remarked disapprovingly. "Her hair is going to be down too? I think she would look better in a snood."

"Indeed?" Rupert answered. Would this woman's lack of taste never end? "She's a matron, not an old hag."

"Snood's can be quite elegant. Queen Red Riding Hood the Third used to wear one all the time."

Lord Rupert yearned to say, yes and look where it got her. But instead he said, "Well, no one here will wear one. Not while I'm in charge."

Penelope the Couturier's First Assistant sniffed and gathered up Rose's gown, which Rose had slipped out of during Rupert's discourse over Virginia's puffy sleeves. It took Penelope and two other ladies to carry the wedding gown out of the room. The remaining assistant helped Virginia out of her gown and then left as well.

"Fear not!" Rupert said, just before he too closed the door and disappeared. "I will have both gowns perfect!"

"Ah!" Rose said, sighing with relief. "I thought they'd never leave. I get so fidgety trying on that gown. Rupert has had me trapped up here almost every day since you left." She put on a fluffy robe, tied it in the middle, and sank onto the bed. "I much prefer my leather pants and jacket."

"I don't think Rupert would let you get married in that," Virginia said as she slipped back into her navy traveling dress.

"I had a new leather outfit done to take on the honeymoon. For hunting. I don't mind gowns generally speaking, but Rupert keeps insisting on my wearing these fussy ones, full of ribbons and lace. He tells me I look more like a princess in them. I feel more like his personal dress-up doll."

"You did look lovely in that gown."

"You think so?" Rose looked up appealingly at her sister-in-law. "I want so much for Wendell to be pleased with me."

Virginia sat down on the bed and slipped her boots on again. "He will be."

"I want his family to be pleased with me too. He's got these two cousins coming and I'm really nervous about meeting them."

"They'll love you," Virginia said, putting her arm around Rose. "How could they help it?"

"Because I'm a wolf. I'm the only one of my kind to ever become a monarch. And I don't know anything about being Queen. Wendell told me that I'm made for the job. But I'm not so sure."

"You'll be great."

"I hope so. Oh but, I haven't asked about your honeymoon yet. How was it?"

"Very nice. Except for one part." Virginia told Rose about their unpleasant trip to the Fifth Kingdom.

"I guess not everything has changed," Rose said. "That's why I have to be a good queen. But what does a queen do really? I mean, Wendell is the one who's going to be doing the actual ruling. What am I supposed to do? Stand around and let Rupert dress me?"

"You'll find your place."

"I feel so much pressure."

"Wolf does too. I don't think he wanted to be a prince or an heir to a throne. But he felt it was his duty to accept."

"Well, it's more than just duty for me. I've got to get it right for Wendell."

"You will."

"And for our children. When I think that my children will one day rule this country, I can't believe it."

"I know what you mean," Virginia said, running her hand across her stomach. "The thought of being a parent is kind of frightening, isn't it?"

"Oh, that part doesn't frighten me. I think I'm looking forward to being a mother. I barely remember my parents anymore. Or my younger brothers. I feel like I missed having a family for most of my life. I want a castle full of children. Don't you?"

Virginia couldn't stop her eyebrows from flying up at the thought of that. "Whew," she said. "I'm overwhelmed as it is. If I have my way, there won't be any more little ones for a while."

"Really? Oh, I want as many as possible as soon as possible."

Having more children was something Virginia didn't want to think of just then. There was something else on her mind and she didn't want Rose to see how concerned she was about it. "Rose, did you happen to notice how my father did while I was gone?"

"Haven't you seen him?"

"Yes. But he was very busy with the new boiler system, so we really didn't get much time to talk." For the first time Virginia became aware that the pipes in the wall were not banging and clanging. The new radiator in Rose's dressing room was perfectly quiet and seemed to be doing a nice job of taking the chill off.

"The boiler's been his pet project since you've been gone," Rose said, rising. She went to the white lacquered dressing table near the door. The whole room was white, the walls, the furniture, the curtains, the linens. It had once been Snow White's sewing room. Rupert had said it was a perfect place to prepare for the wedding, good luck and all that. Rose picked up a white hairbrush and began brushing her thick red hair. "Maybe Rupert likes my hair down," she said. "But I think I'll wear it up during dinner tonight. I'd prefer that my new in-laws think I look mature instead of wild."

"You don't look wild."

"I want Wendell's cousins to think he's marrying the most poised and mature lady in the Nine Kingdoms."

"They will. I'm sure they will. So…getting back to my father…"

Rose swept her hair up in back of her head and proceeded to swirl it around, all the while gazing at herself in the mirror. "As you know, he was busy with the boiler. And of course he's been very excited about the wedding. I think he's every bit as excited as Wendell and I are. He's been so wonderful to Wendell…and to me. But mostly to Wendell. I think he thinks of him as a son."

"Yes," Virginia said, remembering. "They were almost inseparable from the first moment they met." And it had bugged Virginia at first. The way her father had insisted on dragging Wendell around when he was a golden statue and how he'd almost refused to escape without him, when they had the chance to get away from the trolls and the Huntsman. Wolf and his self-help books would probably say that she had been jealous of him too. But so much had happened since then. Wendell had become something of a brother to her. And she thought very highly of Rose. What was it Wolf had said? You're just gaining a new pack mate. She liked having Wendell and Rose as part of her "pack." But there were limits. "How is he getting on with Matilde?" Virginia asked as nonchalantly as she could.

Rose secured her long red hair with a set of tortoise shell combs. "Oh…you mean their romance! They're both walking on clouds. It's the talk of the castle."

"I was afraid of that," Virginia said under her breath.

"What?"

"What's everyone saying?"

"How wonderful it is. Everyone's so happy for them. Wendell says that before The Giant War, Matilde had been getting more and more distant from everyone. He was afraid she might pull out of the Council completely and just become a recluse in her ice castle. Now she's getting involved in everything again. Your father's done her a world of good."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. They're obviously very happy. I know they want to get married as soon as possible, but they're waiting on account of Wendell and me. Wendell would love to be best man. But he's sure that honor will go to Wolf."

"What about the age difference between them?"

"With fairies there's always an age difference. They live so much longer than everyone else." Rose did a turn so Virginia could get the full effect of her hair. "What do you think? Do I look mature?"

"Absolutely. And beautiful too."

"Thank you. Now I have to decide on a dress." Rose ran to the closet, her bare feet flying in tiny nervous steps. "What do you think? The green print or the maroon velvet?" She held up both dresses for Virginia's inspection.

"The velvet, definitely."

"You know, when your father marries Matilde, Wendell will be related to almost every monarch in the Nine Kingdoms in one way or another. Except of course for the trolls and the dwarves and Old King Cole."

Virginia didn't say it, but she was pretty sure the Fifth Kingdom wouldn't have wanted a connection to Wendell or anyone else who was friendly to wolves.

"I don't have shoes to match," Rose said. "What about these brown ones. They'll go with my hair combs at least."

"I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Of course when Rupert sees me, he'll probably rip them off my feet and give immediate orders for the Royal Shoemaker to have velvet slippers made up."

"No doubt." Virginia wandered over to the fireless lamps that were stationed next to the three full length mirrors. She raised one of her hands to test it for heat, but it was cool to the touch. "What kind of lights are these?"

"Those? Oh, they're magic. It doesn't consume anything, but it gives off light. It's fairy fire. Elves can make it too, but not as well. Matilde made those for me because she was afraid there'd be a fire here with all the different material Rupert had me trying on. Every surface was piled high with bolts of cloth before he decided on the lace." Rose slipped out of her robe and started to step into the maroon velvet dress. "You must have seen those lights at Wendell's coronation."

"I did. But so much was going on, I didn't think to ask anyone what they were."

"At Wendell's coronation Matilde's uncle, Prince Brutus and his daughter Alicia handled the lighting. Matilde is doing the same thing for our wedding. Would you do my buttons for me?"

"Of course." Virginia buttoned in silence for a moment. "Rose? Do you think my father and Matilde are getting married too quickly? I mean, with my mother dying recently. Where I come from it's, well, it's not considered proper."

Rose spun around to face her sister-in-law. "Oh, Virginia! That's what you're worried about." She slipped her freckled hands over Virginia's shoulders. "Don't you worry. It's not like that here. No one's going to think any less of them. In fact, like I said, everyone's happy about it." She threw her arms around Virginia and gave her a warm hug. "We all think it's wonderful."

"Oh," Virginia said, weakly. "How nice." Once again, Virginia became aware of how quiet the shiny new radiator in the room had become. There hadn't been any noise since she'd come in. Was Wolf right? Was she just being jealous?

The singing ring began wiggling on her finger, as if in response to her thoughts. Virginia had a feeling that if Rose hadn't been there, he would have sung that little song to her again.

"Jealous is as jealous does.

It's just the same as it always was.

Although you swear your concern is true,

There's less for him than there is for you."

It was beginning to look as if Wolf and the singing ring were right.


	8. Chapter 8 Dinner and Difficulties

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**Dinner and Difficulties**

"She'll get over it," Matilde said.

Tony had just been telling her about his earlier discussion with Virginia. He had expected Matilde to be as upset as he was about the whole thing. But she wasn't. "Yeah, well, I hope she doesn't take a hundred years to come around like your other step-daughter Leaf Fall did."

Matilde touched her tightly curled platinum hair as she looked at herself in the full length mirror near the door. "Leaf Fall was basically angry at herself, not me. She was uncomfortable with her place in the Seventh Kingdom as heir to the throne. And she was ashamed of her deceased mother's humanness. When I entered her father's life, she had just entered into an unhappy marriage of convenience. And when The Magic War started, she was ashamed of herself for running away. A lot of that emotion just bounced out of her and became attached to me."

"But Virginia has been through a lot lately."

"Yes, she has. And if I had been present at Wendell's coronation, I would have thrust Raphaela into her hands at once." Matilde waved one hand delicately in the direction of her cane. It was laying across the foot of their king sized bed. The healing powers of Matilde's cane were legendary. But no one besides Tony knew that it contained the spiritual remains of her daughter Raphaela. "I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for Virginia to have to kill her mother in order to save her own life."

"I know."

"But she'll come around. Just give her time."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because after five hundred years of living, I know about these things. Virginia is intelligent and strong. There have been a lot of changes in her life lately and she's still got a lot of things to work out. But she will work them out. Just give her time. Now let's go down to dinner. This is our first chance to sit down as a family."

"I'm ready if you are," Tony said with a sigh.

Matilde patted Tony's chest fondly and smiled up into his face. "You just relax and enjoy yourself. This is your first real chance to play patriarch."

"Patriarch?"

"Yes. You'll smile broadly as you give Rose away at her wedding. And you'll smile even more broadly when Virginia presents you with your first grandchild."

Tony suddenly looked away. Men of his generation didn't cry and he felt himself close to it. "It's just, Virginia and I seemed to have gotten past the point of her hating me and blaming me for everything in her childhood. I was hoping not to return to that."

"She won't," Matilde promised gently. "She's moved past that. And she loves you far too much to drive you away." She kissed him gently. "Now, let's go or we'll miss the first course. Raphaela, would you like to come?" Matilde held out her hand, but the twisted piece of white vine did not fly into it. "Fine. I'll take that as a no."

By the time Matilde and Tony got to the dining room, Wendell and Rose, and Virginia and Wolf were already seated. They were at a private table in the back near a stained glass window which was rich with blues and greens by day with the sun behind it and looked completely black at night. Wendell was telling Wolf how excited he was about the boiler. How its invention would be of such great importance. When Matilde and Tony appeared at the table, Wolf and Wendell immediately got to their feet.

"You're just in time for the soup," Wolf said.

"I hope you don't mind that we started," Wendell said.

"Not at all," Matilde said. Tony pulled a chair out for her and she sat down, followed by the men.

"I was just telling Wolf and Virginia what a boon the new boiler will be for the Nine Kingdoms," Wendell said. "All the wedding guests will want to know how it works. You'll be in great demand, Anthony."

Tony put his napkin on his lap as a waiter served him a bowl of tomato bisque soup. "We finally worked out the bugs. But we would never have done it in time if it hadn't been for Matilde's anti-gremlin charm. That's what got my men back to work." Tony patted his lady's hand fondly. "I'm just sorry we had to take you away from your Council work."

"Not at all," Matilde said. "It just so happened that I had a few charms made up already. Whether you know it or not, there was definitely some gremlin disturbance at the beginning. Remember how much trouble you had when you put the first pipes in the basement?"

"Oh, yeah," Tony said. "They kept disappearing. I'm afraid I don't have the most reliable of help."

"Actually, that wasn't it. I didn't want to bother you at the time, but I figured out pretty quickly that it was gremlins. So, I put together a few charms and went and had a talk with them. Without the proper charms to get their attention, you can't even get them to talk to you. Anyway, I told them what you were trying to do, how the walls of the castle would be much warmer and more comfortable for them. And they decided that they wouldn't interfere with your work anymore."

Tony looked at Matilde incredulously. "Then there were gremlins?"

"Oh, yes. This old castle is full of them."

"I told you," Wolf said smugly.

"Well," Wendell said, "there hasn't been any noise coming from any of the walls or radiators in quite some time. I say we make a toast to the man who has saved us from ever having to spend another interminably cold winter in this castle."

"Here, here!" Wolf said, raising his wine glass. Everyone else followed his example.

Virginia, of course, was not drinking wine. She had told Wolf that in her world they'd discovered that it wasn't good for expectant mothers to drink alcohol. She was toasting with a glass of tomato juice. She smiled at her father and suddenly realized that she was proud of him. In spite of her lack of confidence in him, he was continuing to improve and Matilde was obviously helping and encouraging him. Maybe Wolf was right about it being time for her to stop treating her father like a cub.

As the main course was served, Wolf asked the question that was most on his mind. "Rose," he said. "We saw the wolf coat of arms on the castle as we rode up. How did you get Queen Red to agree?"

Rose paused for a moment before answering. "It was her idea really. She wanted us to have it. About a week and a half after you left, she and I went to visit the grave of her secretary, Ichabod. You remember him, Wolf. He was the very thin man who sometimes attended her at public gatherings. He always looked very nervous."

"Oh, yes," Wolf said. "Very very nervous."

"Well, he was the one who told us that Burly and his people were about to burn her at the stake. He was wounded crawling through the battle lines and died after giving us the information. We buried him not far from the border of the Second Kingdom. The Queen wanted to go and pay her respects to him for saving her life." Rose didn't mention that there had been some feeling between Ichabod and Queen Red. Wendell of course knew since he was present when Ichabod died confessing his love. But it seemed disloyal to allow it to become common knowledge. "Red and I have become quite close since the war. She said that a daughter of the House of Red should have a proper coat of arms. And she suggested this one."

Wolf shook his head. He was speechless. Virginia wasn't the only one who was trying to understand all the changes that had taken place.

They were just coming to the end of dinner when Herbert, the perfect butler appeared soundlessly at Wendell's side. "Excuse me, your Majesty," he said with a proper bow. "But your cousins have arrived."

Rose's eyes widened with fear.

"Thank you," Wendell said rising. "We'll go see them at once." He tried to help Rose up from her chair, but it was a little difficult because her knees kept buckling. "Excuse us all, will you?"

The others at the table smiled and said of course. But as soon as the happy couple had departed, Matilde leaned over the table and whispered. "I think we should follow shortly. Wendell's cousins are the most vicious twosome in the Nine Kingdoms. Tony, remember how much attitude Wendell had when you first met him? Well Wendell's cousins are a lot worse. They're going to see Rose as a threat to their position in the line of succession. Wendell fully believes that they will love Rose as much as he does. He just doesn't realize how much he's changed. Who knows how these two will act. I've heard they were horrified about his wolf proclamation."

- - - - - - - - - -

Wendell led Rose down to the entrance to the castle where his cousins were waiting for them. There was a big grin on his face and eagerness in his stride. Rose followed slightly behind, clinging tightly to his hand. Her step was as unsure as his was confident. She had a strained smile on her face.

The two cousins had nothing resembling a smile on their faces. Both of them were very serious.

Barron, the older of the two siblings and second in line to the throne of the Fourth Kingdom, was a diminutive man with an extra thin frame, black clothing, and a large round head that would have looked better on a man about a foot taller. His hair was also black and closely clipped, and his face was closely shaven, as though his barber thought a semi-hairless state would somehow make his head seem smaller. He had a jeweled knife in his belt and a black cape trimmed with black fur thrown back over his shoulders. His stance was proud and strong, despite his undersized frame. His side of the family was related to Wendell's paternal great-grandfather, the Dragon-Slayers. And he tried to look the part when he ventured into the public eye.

The other cousin and third heir to the throne, Felicity, had a stouter form. She was dressed in a wool traveling outfit of light brown, amply trimmed with mink, with a mink shawl over it. Her hair was dark brown in a shade that was close to that of the fur she wore in such abundance. Her eyes were small and beady like that animal's as well. On her head was an enormous hat of mink that looked more like a headdress than a hat.

"Barron! Felicity!" Wendell called while he was still a fair way down the corridor. "I haven't seen you two since I can't remember when! We missed you at the coronation."

The coronation! That seemed like a lifetime ago. Barron tried to remember what excuse they had given for not attending. At first they had told Wendell that they would be there. After all, they were Wendell's closest living relatives and heirs to his throne; they felt it was their responsibility to make it look as if they were planning to attend. Appearances were very important to this last remnant of the Dragon-Slayer family. But sincerity was not. They never had any actual intention of going and made an excuse at the last minute. Why would they want to watch their oaf of a cousin become king? Barron believed that he, the last male named Dragon-Slayer, was more suited to rule. It had only been a trick of birth that had denied it to him.

Barron and Felicity were grandchildren of the younger brother to the prince who had married Snow White. As the "spare" prince he had been sent into the army. At that point there were no more dragons and the family had to find other pursuits. Barron's father had avoided the military and had instead chosen to live the life of a lord, lending out his ancestral lands to peasant farmers and reaping most of their rewards. Barron and Felicity were continuing on in their father's footsteps. They had great wealth and no other business but to urge the peasants on, dress expensively, and congratulate themselves on their importance.

When Wendell's mother and later his father died of a mysterious illness, Barron's father had hoped that Wendell would catch it as well and leave him the throne. But that was not to be. The Evil Queen was soon revealed as the one who poisoned Wendell's parents and although she tried to take over the Fourth Kingdom, she was stopped before she had the chance to kill Wendell and was put away in Snow White Memorial Prison. Barron, like his father, considered the Evil Queen to be a fool. Her last failed attempt to grab power only seemed to confirm that.

"Felicity was ill," Barron said, remembering finally the excuse they had given for not attending Wendell's coronation. "But she's much better now."

Felicity coughed weakly to back up her brother's story. She always did everything he said and agreed unquestioningly with him on all subjects.

"It sounds like you had quite a party," Barron said wryly.

"Yes," Wendell said, not noticing his cousin's tone. "I'll introduce you to the heroes of that occasion in a bit. But first you must meet my betrothed. This is Princess Rose, second heir to Red Riding Hood's throne." Wendell presented his bride to them with an air of expectation.

Rose smiled hopefully and stepped forward toward Barron. He countered by whipping up his cape between them. It was as if he were trying to shield himself from contact with her. It was an insulting act, but it went further than that. The moving air brought an unmistakable scent to Rose's nose and her eyes turned amber with anger. All her timidity was gone. Her soldierly instincts took over instead. "Is that wolf fur you're wearing?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"What?" Wendell asked. He looked from one to the other of them trying to understand.

"He's wearing wolf skins on his cape," Rose answered, a growl creeping into her voice.

Barron smiled. His plan was working. He had heard that wolves had a keen sense of smell. He had hoped to get Rose to show her animalistic side, so that Wendell would realize how wrong she was for him. If she attacked him outright, Barron intended to use the jeweled knife at his waist to kill her.

But Rose was a seasoned general. She had seen the knife in his belt and had noticed his hand touching it. Once during The Giant War she had let her temper get away from her and she had promised herself never to let that happen again. She growled and bared her teeth, but she would not give her enemy a reason to reach for his weapon.

"Why would you wear something like that?" Wendell demanded."

"To show you what you're considering marrying. Look at her, ready to attack. She's nothing more than a feral animal. How can you even think of desecrating the Dragon-Slayer family blood with such as she?"

"Animal?" Rose said, "No wolf would ever wear the skin of a sentient being."

"No. You would just eat them," Barron said dryly, his lower lip twisting down and his left eyebrow twisting up.

So locked were they in their confrontation, that none of the foursome heard the footsteps behind them.

"And what seems to be the trouble here?" Matilde asked stepping forward.

Wolf was right behind her. He had scented the wolf pelt on Barron's cape much earlier than his sister had, because he was not caught up in the desire to please that she had been earlier. He took his place at Rose's side, a growl rising to his throat as well. Family had to be protected and Rose seemed to be the quarry of these two cousins.

"Ah, good! Queen Matilde!" Barron called out loudly. "The Ice Queen has strayed from her castle at last. Would your mother have allowed this defilement?" he asked, pointing at Rose.

"The fact that you're asking that question proves that you know nothing of my mother," Matilde answered sharply.

There was a hint of surprise in Barron's dark eyes. "But your mother worked to control the satyrs and hsigo. And she got rid of the dragons."

"You are only partially right. There were certain satyrs and hsigo who were causing trouble then. She dealt with the trouble makers and banished most of the rest to the Disenchanted Forest. Seeing as those creatures are very rare in the Nine Kingdoms for supporting them, it didn't take much. As for the last dragons, she moved them to another dimension for their own protection. She didn't want them to die out and the male dragons with their addiction to quicksilver and the dwarves with their need for it to make mirrors were becoming increasingly embattled. My mother thought the dragons would have a better chance of survival in an uninhabited dimension. She had no quarrel with any creature as long as it did not threaten anyone else."

Barron let out a disgusted laugh. "Well, these creatures threaten us," he said, gesturing to Rose and Wolf. He had not been introduced to Wolf, but he knew by his growl what his background was. "They dirty our land with their animal ways and despoil our families."

"Get out," Wendell said coldly. "You are no longer welcome here."

"I am not leaving," Barron said. "Felicity and I are heirs to your throne. We have a right to be here."

"That can be changed. Rose can be named instead of you as next in line for the throne. I can petition the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. It was done with Cinderella and Snow White; it can be done with you."

"Ah, but when they were boosted up from being merely 'queen consort,' it was done by mutual agreement because of their singular greatness. This creature is not greater than me. I will not lie back and allow you to push me aside, to dirty the noble bloodlines of Dragon-Slayer and White with this." Once again, Barron pointed at Rose in disgust.

"I told you to leave."

At the end of the hallway, the airy form of Herbert the perfect butler appeared and disappeared.

"If she created such a stir in your loins, you could have simply made her your mistress. But to make her your wife? To place her and her children on the throne? That's an abomination!" Barron's hand tightened around his jeweled knife.

Wendell's eyes narrowed. "Your king has ordered you to leave."

"I do believe your time as a dog has affected you," Barron challenged. "Made you like them perhaps."

"I think you've said just about enough, Buddy," Tony said, stepping forward. "Your king told you to leave."

"If you do not do as I command," Wendell said, "I will have you escorted to Snow White Memorial Prison on charges of suspected treason."

From behind them there was the sound of marching feet. Herbert had called several guards to the spot, their swords at the ready. Barron's eyes, took in the advancing men and his fingers loosened on his knife. It was an affront to his ego to be ordered from the castle of his ancestors. But it was better to leave with dignity than to be dragged away to that one time castle of Mazarin's, filled with low-life thugs and half-animal criminals.

The guards marched to either side of the cousins and stood waiting for the command from their king.

"All right," Barron said. "We'll go. But you haven't heard the last of this." And with that, he swirled his cape up into the faces of Rose and Wolf and led his sister out of the castle.

"The nerve of that guy," Tony said. "Comes into his cousin's castle and starts insulting his fiancé."

"He won't be welcomed back here again," Wendell said. "Not while I'm alive and well enough to prevent it."


	9. Chapter 9 The Island Prison

**CHAPTER NINE**

**The Island Prison**

Hunter's Island had been a lush place in the time of Gretel the Great, former ruler of the Third Kingdom. She used it for hunting parties when she needed to put aside the pressures of ruling. In those days there had been a harbor at the south end, with several huts near the water to house the caretakers. The small castle at its center was a good carriage ride through the forest. Its central location allowed for forays in every direction that would invigorate but not exhaust the monarch when it was time to return with the day's kill.

By the time it became a prison for Relish's three children, Gretel wouldn't have known the place. The harbor had fallen into the sea. The huts at its side had been torn apart and used for firewood. And the proud hunting castle was mostly home to spiders and bats.

A wealthy troll warrior had been the last owner of the island and he and his wife had sent it into its final disintegration. She had killed off most of the game and he logged the land heavily. Over the last few years, some vegetation had begun returning. But it was sparse, not at all as lush and green as it had been in the time of Gretel the Great. There wasn't much game anymore either, except for the occasional wild boar. The wife of the last owner had kept boars as pets and a few of them had escaped to reproduce and return to the wild. Now the boars were the prime tenants of the place, except of course for the new prisoners.

For the first weeks of their imprisonment, Burly, Blabberwort, and Bluebell had done their best to stay away from each other. But as the days got colder and more inclement, they started to drift toward the decaying abandoned castle, which was the only remaining source of shelter. Princess Alicia of the Ice Maidens had left wood for them at the castle to get them through the first winter. After that she said they would be obliged to do for themselves.

"I think you'll make it," Princess Alicia had said coolly. "If you handle the developing forest wisely you'll have enough wood to get you through each succeeding year. If you aren't careful, you will freeze. Maybe we'll check in on you every five years or so. Certainly no more than that. You simply aren't worth bothering about."

On the night Wendell faced off with his cousins, Relish's children were huddled in Gretel's old castle trying to keep warm.

"It's all your fault," Blabberwort complained, thrashing her older brother Burly across the chest. "Capturing the Second Kingdom was all well and good. But you should have kept that giant…that Spider fellow under tighter control. And you should have been there among the soldiers when it came time to burn Queen Red. If you'd done that, she wouldn't have been rescued and the spirit of the Second Kingdom would have been broken."

"Oh, yeah?" Burly said, bending over her menacingly. "From where I'm standing, it's YOUR fault! You and your giants ran like rabbits. At least Spider fought bravely till the end. I was the last one to surrender!" He was so angry the rings on the tops of his ears began to jingle.

But Blabberwort faced him unafraid. "If not for you, we wouldn't be stuck here without any dwarf moss or magic mushrooms, with only three changes of clothes and three pairs of shoes. Just THREE pairs of shoes," she repeated for emphasis. To them that was the worst part of their incarceration. Before long those three pairs of shoes would wear out and all they would have to replace them with was boar's hide. No self-respecting troll wanted to wear boar's hide. Sure, it wore well. But you never quite got out all the bristles and it was never as soft and pliable as other leathers.

Bluebell did his share of grumbling too, but he knew he couldn't out-talk his siblings. So he centered most of his attention on the fire they had burning in the immense fireplace in the great hall near the entrance to the castle. Every now and again, he would stop to scratch his beard and pull off head lice.

Why a hunting lodge needed such an enormous room, no one knew. But it was big enough to house a dragon or several horses. And it was becoming the center of the three trolls' lives. They roasted what game they could catch there and slept beside the great fireplace. There were plenty of other rooms within the castle, but they realized that if they took separate ones, they would need a lot of extra wood to heat them. Princess Alicia may have thought she'd left them enough wood for the winter, but the trolls thought the supply was very skimpy.

Burly growled at his sister for a bit longer. Then he settled down amid some of the worn blankets they'd found in the lodge. Trolls didn't like going to bed so early in the evening, but they were going to bed with the sun to conserve wood.

They were just beginning to fall asleep when they heard an explosion. All three of them sat up immediately.

"Suck an elf!" Burly exclaimed.

"What was that?" Bluebell asked.

"It sounded like a great clash of thunder," Blabberwort offered.

"No. It wasn't thunder," Bluebell said.

"It sounded like some kind of magic," Burly said, getting to his feet. "Maybe they lowered the magic barrier." He reached for his ax and raised it threateningly toward the darkened corners of the immense hall. The Ice Maidens had allowed each of the trolls one weapon for hunting and this was his.

Blabberwort jumped to her feet as well and pulled out a shortened sword from under her bed roll. She thrust it under the few pieces of moldy furniture that still remained in the room, checking for intruders.

Bluebell pulled out his small knife and held it close to his face. He didn't see any reason to get up since both of his siblings were already standing and both had bigger weapons.

A flash of light flew up in the middle of the hall, lighting every corner. Burly and Blabberwort stepped back, their weapons raised. Bluebell considered diving under his covers for a moment, but he remembered that he was a son of King Relish. It was his duty to stand with his siblings, even if the fight ahead lead to his death. So, he too rose to his feet, his knife poised and ready.

The sparkle of fairy traveling dust flew up in the gleaming light and two figures appeared. At their feet were several pieces of luggage.

"Who are you," Burly demanded blinking. So far all he could make out was the figure of a man and a woman. The woman was holding a bright fairy light, the kind that Rose had in her dressing room. As he spoke, the woman waved her hand and the light softened.

"I thought you were going to leave us alone for at least five years!" Blabberwort scolded.

"I don't think they're Ice Maidens," Bluebell said.

"Very perceptive," Mazarin said, stepping forward, his purple robes sweeping out behind him. "You three I take it are Relish's children."

"Yeah, and who are you," Burly demanded again.

"Hey," Blabberwort said. She came up behind Burly and looked over his shoulder. Her mouth opened in surprise. "Look at him. He looks like…"

Burly squinted. "Yeah, he does. But it can't be."

Mazarin smiled and stroked his beard. He had been gone thirty years, well before any of these trolls had been born. Still they seemed to recognize him. What villain wouldn't feel pride over that? Mazarin hadn't commissioned any portraits of himself before his imprisonment. He thought perhaps someone had ordered it afterward, to commemorate his dangerous power.

Bluebell peeked out from the other side of Burly. "He looks like…Tony Lewis," he croaked.

"But how did he grow a beard that long that fast?" Burly asked.

Mazarin pulled out of his egotistical dream. "What? What did you say?"

"And how could he make that big an entrance?" Blabberwort asked. "He doesn't have any magic."

"It must be the fairy who came with him," Bluebell offered. "The one with the light. She must have done it."

"Who are they talking about?" Mazarin bellowed, turning to his consort.

Zafira swooped in between Mazarin and the trolls. She held out the fairy light in front of her as if it were a magic talisman. She had never seen Tony Lewis because she'd been living with the rest of their group at the edge of the Sixth Kingdom. But they often sent their younger members to fetch provisions and ask for news in the local villages. She'd heard the name mentioned. This was not good. Mazarin was very self-centered. He may not have had any paintings done of himself, but he wasn't going to be happy when he found out that someone who looked like him was now involved romantically with Queen Matilde. "Master…It's no one," Zafira said, "just a lackey of King Wendell's." She removed her hood and looked each of the trolls firmly in the eye, willing them not to say anything. "THIS," she announced "is the great and terrible wizard…MAZARIN!"

The trolls hesitated for a beat and then looked at each other.

"But…" Blabberwort said, "Mazarin is imprisoned in another dimension."

"I was," Mazarin said. "But I've escaped. And I'm ready to plan my revenge against the Nine Kingdoms."

The troll children looked Mazarin over once again.

"The evil wizard Mazarin looks like…Tony Lewis?" Bluebell said, unbelieving.

"WHO is this Tony Lewis!" Mazarin roared.

"I…I told you, Master," Zafira said. "He's the man whose cannon invention helped turn The Giant War."

"Is that all?" Mazarin shouted. He could tell she had not told him everything.

Zafira closed her eyes before speaking because she feared her Master's wrath. She'd hoped to avoid saying anything. But if she didn't speak now, Mazarin would just torture the trolls till they told him. Then Mazarin would be even angrier. "He's…he's also the man that some say is now involved with Queen Matilde."

"What?" Mazarin's eyes grew red with anger.

"I've never seen him," Zafira said quickly. "I've only heard tell of him. He's an inventor. Some say he's from another dimension."

"Another dimension? Is he a wizard?"

"No," Burly said. "He doesn't have any magic powers."

"He and his daughter came here by using the magic mirror in the basement of your old castle," Blabberwort said. "They turned it into a prison after you left and were too lazy to move all of your things out." Blabberwort wondered for a moment if she should also say that she and her brothers had claimed this tenth kingdom for the Troll Nation, but she decided against it. After all, the mirror that had gotten them there had been in Mazarin's old basement. He might argue their claim.

"He's only a human," Bluebell said dismissively.

Mazarin raised his cane and swept it out toward the other four in the room. The trolls and Zafira were immediately flung hard against the furthest walls. Zafira's light fell to the ground, but did not go out. "Matilde has taken up with another human?"

The trolls didn't say anything. They stayed where they were on the nice safe cold stone floor. Zafira was the only one brave enough to speak. She crawled toward Mazarin hesitantly on her stomach. "It's only a rumor," she said.

"And he looks like me?"

"I don't know, Master," Zafira said, honestly.

"He looks like me?" Mazarin yelled to the trolls.

But there was no answer.

Mazarin chose the largest of the trolls to demonstrate his power on. He made a fist out of his left hand as if he were grasping something. Then he raised his arm and Burly was magically catapulted up from the floor. Mazarin moved his fist closer to himself and Burly flew across the room to the wizard, struggling and pleading all the way in a manner that would not have made Relish proud. "I said," Mazarin repeated. "Does this Tony Lewis look like me?"

"Maybe a little," Burly said in a very small voice.

Mazarin made a throwing motion and Burly was hurled against the wall again.

"So, Matilde is taking up with copies of me now. Human copies! I killed both of her previous husbands and her daughter. I will get rid of this Tony Lewis as well."

"But…but, Master," Zafira said, still on the ground. "I thought you didn't care about Matilde any longer."

"I don't," Mazarin said. "She's a fool. They're all fools. Everyone in the Nine Kingdoms is a fool. As soon as we're done with my revenge, I plan to leave here."

"Revenge?" Blabberwort said, not daring to look at Mazarin. "That's something we'd be glad to help you with. We don't like Lord Lewis either."

"Lord Lewis?" Mazarin groaned. "They made this wizard wannabe a lord?"

"King Wendell did it out of gratitude when he and his daughter helped change him back from being a dog," Blabberwort explained.

Mazarin pounded his staff against the floor. "I wish I could tailor my revenge to each one of my enemies."

"But you can't, Master," Zafira said. "We will need a lot of power to put all of the Nine Kingdoms under one curse. And you'll need power as well to make over your new kingdom to your liking. This Tony Lewis isn't important enough for you take notice of." She hesitated for a moment. "Not if you don't care about Matilde any longer."

Mazarin stroked his long beard thoughtfully. "Much as it irritates me to admit it, you're right. I can't jeopardize my plan for one puny human. I've waited too long to carry it off. Too bad. I would have liked to do something especially evil to this one who dares to look like me."

"The first part of your curse will deal with Matilde," Zafira said. "If he loves her, that will be enough to hurt him."

"You're going to put ALL of the Nine Kingdoms under one curse?" Bluebell asked.

"Yes," Mazarin answered.

"Including the Troll Kingdom?" Blabberwort asked.

"Of course! Do you think I have any fondness for your people? Your grandfather treated me just the way all the rest of the Nine Kingdoms did. Besides your kind are merely animals. Fit to serve, but nothing else. If you obey me I will see that you are spared from the curse that is to come. If you defy me, I will practice on you first."

Not knowing what the curse was, the troll children quickly agreed to serve him. Even Burly had found his tongue by then.

"Good," Mazarin said. "Your first act of servant hood will be to carry our things up to the finest rooms in the castle. I want the best one for myself, of course. Clean them up and make them ready!"

"Yes, Master," Bluebell said, jumping to his feet and heading for the belongings of the magic couple. His two siblings were close behind.

"And don't forget to set a roaring fire in each of the rooms."

"But, Master…" Blabberwort said. "There isn't that much wood and…"

"Don't worry. Prepare the fireplaces and put a few sticks of wood inside. We'll use fairy fire. Zafira will bring it to you. It lasts for about a week. But when it goes out, we will simply make more. It will heat, but not burn. And we will use fairy lights in place of torches or lamps. Zafira!" Mazarin gestured to the fallen light. The red-headed fairy got up from the floor, recovered the fairy light she had been carrying earlier and handed it to Bluebell.

"Thank you, Master," Bluebell said.

"And after you're finished with the bedrooms, clean up this hall. I'd like to bring in my pet and keep her here."

"Master?" Zafira said, bowing low. "Are you speaking of your pet from your prison dimension?"

"Yes, of course. Now that the barrier is broken we can transport her here. This hall should be big enough for her."

"Yes. But, Master…a full grown dragon might be noticed. The Ice Maidens might come and check."

Mazarin nodded. "You are right again. It's just that I miss her. I wonder how my poor Baby is getting on without me."

"Baby?" Blabberwort whispered to her brothers.

"That's her name," Mazarin said, turning his red eyes onto the trolls. "Get to work. We've had a long day and I want to retire early."

"Yes, Master," Bluebell and Blabberwort intoned. Burly nodded and followed his siblings out.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Baby?" Blabberwort repeated as they climbed the stone stairs of the castle with their burdens. They were headed to the third floor. That's where the best bedchambers were. "He's got a pet dragon named…Baby?"

"He obviously is who he says he is," Bluebell put in. "Lord Lewis could never have thrown Burly across the floor without the help of a cannon."

"How did he get to be so powerful?" Blabberwort asked.

"From what Dad told me about him," Burly said, "he must be about five hundred years old. The same age as Queen Matilde. The older a fairy gets, the more powerful they become. I think those two must be the oldest fairies in all of the Kingdoms."

"No, Prince Brutus is older," Blabberwort said, remembering Matilde's uncle. "But that is all. There is no one else equal in age or power."

"They're going hurt our people," Burly said, "with whatever this curse is."

"What do we care?" Bluebell asked. "Our people were just as happy to have us imprisoned here as the rest of the Nine Kingdoms."

"But…maybe if we saved them from this danger." Burly said. "Maybe they would give us another chance at leading the Troll Nation."

The three of them came to a stop in the drafty hallway of the third floor. "You may be right," Blabberwort said. "And they're our people, after all. We have a duty to them. Family comes first to a troll. And all trolls are family."

"But what can we do against such a strong wizard?" Bluebell asked, scratching at his thin little beard.

"Nothing right now," Burly said. "But we'll watch and wait for our chance. Pretend to be good servants until we can make our next move."

"Yes, we'll do it for the Third Kingdom," Blabberwort said.

"To restore Dad's throne," Burly said.

"For better food and more pairs of shoes," Bluebell added.

And the three nodded vigorously at one another in agreement.


	10. Chapter 10 Family

**CHAPTER TEN**

**Family**

The visit by Wendell's cousins put something of a damper on the wedding for Wendell and Rose. But the rest of the castle forgot about Barron and Felicity almost before their carriage had pulled away. The Fourth Kingdom needed this wedding celebration and they weren't going to let a couple of ill-tempered cousins (that no one really liked anyway) ruin it.

On the night of the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner, the castle was full of happy guests. These were the people closest to the bride and groom. They had come early to partake in the night of celebration before the actual wedding. The members of the Council of Truth, that had given out the pro-wolf proclamations and raised Wolf and Rose to royalty were especially conspicuous.

Queen Cinderella had Lord Rupert give her one of his extra special, over the top announcements as she entered the palace. She was dressed in a deep orange velvet cloak over a lighter colored frothy orange gown. She preferred orange because it showed up her red hair which (despite her being 200 years old) was still in its original shade of red thanks to a certain amount of magic. She looked wonderful! The only thing that betrayed her age was her penchant for falling asleep at odd times. But she was so well loved, that no one took any notice.

King Cole arrived shortly after her, looking as rotund in his powder blue suit as ever. Unfortunately, he wasn't all that jolly. The Fifth Kingdom was caught up in a lot of strife. The protests against the wolves and himself were growing in number. His Chancellor had advised him not to come to this wedding, saying it would inflame the people against him even more. But King Cole was a very loyal man. His mother, Rapunzel, had taught him to stand by his friends and defend the right. And seeing as she still haunted him from time to time, he tried very hard to be the sort of king that she would want him to be. So, King Cole had decided to attend both the Rehearsal Dinner and the wedding to demonstrate his full support for the happy couple. He had also ordered his Chancellor to come to the wedding so that the people of the Fifth Kingdom could see that its government was united.

King Eranthis, ruler of both the dwarves and the Ninth Kingdom, entered the palace with less pomp and circumstance. He was his usual serious self, dressed in a very proper suit of navy with very shiny brass buttons. But even he couldn't help but smile now and then on this bright and exciting occasion. His son and daughter-in-law were expected to join him at the wedding. They were much more into ostentation than Eranthis and it was a constant point of contention between them. Eranthis didn't like the trappings of the monarchy. In truth, most dwarves didn't. But his son was very much into it. The younger dwarf and his wife had even attended Wendell's coronation, dressed to the hilt, complete with crowns. That was something they couldn't have gotten away with in the Ninth Kingdom. In Dragon Mountain it was understood that crowns were only to be worn during special ceremonies. But Eranthis's son knew many of the royal heads at Wendell's coronation would be sporting crowns and he had decided to show his off as well. Of course his wife insisted on wearing one too. Eranthis had forbidden them to do it at Rose and Wendell's wedding.

Queen Leaf Fall, queen of the elves and ruler of the Seventh Kingdom also arrived without fanfare. In fact, she entered the castle from the back, as if she lived there and was not a guest, which was almost true. She had been using Wendell's castle as the center of operations for The Council of the Nine Kingdoms since The Giant War. Leaf was the Vice President of the ruling body. Her husband, Woodbine, was to attend the wedding ceremony only. Their daughters weren't attending at all. Leaf's impatience with her children was similar to Eranthis's, only he was irritated at his son for wanting to play king too much and Leaf was disappointed that neither of her daughters had an interest in being queen. Leaf was planning to utilize the wedding as an opportunity to talk to Virginia about her new position as Leaf's Second in the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. As usual, the elf was mixing business with pleasure, because she rarely took pleasure and her mind was never off business.

Of course, the final member of the Council of Truth was already living there. Matilde, queen of the fairies and ruler of the Eighth Kingdom was secretly engaged to Lord Lewis. But of course by that time, the secret was already publicly known.

In addition to these respected guests, there were many dignitaries of the Fourth Kingdom and military leaders from The Giant War, including the wolves who had commanded with Rose.

Queen Red Riding Hood the Third arrived quietly in a large throng of lesser Lords and Ladies. She was starting to look better after her trying imprisonment and torture in her own castle. She was dressed in one of her most impressive gowns, a red velvet maroon with a hoop skirt and gold brilliants. Previously this gown had always made her look imperious. Now she looked strangely shrunken within it, as if she'd worn it as a protection against the outside world.

Lord Rupert was in charge of everything that night. From the rehearsal itself to the dinner that followed. By that point, Rose was showing signs of nervousness and temper. Virginia wisely suggested that she honor the custom in her dimension of staying apart from the groom before the wedding, so there would be no misunderstandings during this very emotional time. Rose wisely agreed. During the actual rehearsal, Rose held herself in check, but there were times when her green eyes flashed at Rupert. He of course never noticed. He was way too involved with coaching everyone's steps.

"Listen to these beats," Rupert instructed. Then he clapped his hands in a simple four/four time. "After two counts of eight, a member of the wedding party will step forward and proceed down the aisle. King Wendell, please, no little hops in-between counts. Prince Wolf, you're walking against the beat again. Lord Lewis, please remember that the bride does not have your long legs. Take shorter steps! The bride should not have to gallop to keep up."

As Virginia started to march in, Lord Rupert hopped over to her and said, "I hate to have to say it, my dear, but you're not really walking in time to the music. But then, I guess you can't. A little weighed down, are we? Well," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "just do the best you can."

Virginia blue eyes narrowed. What did he mean she was weighed down? True, she was starting to feel her pregnancy, but she hadn't gained that much, had she? To show him he was wrong, she pushed down the aisle in an exaggerated step that was even worse than the original one. As the rehearsal was nearing its end, she felt fatigued and light headed. Her smile became strained. By the time they were on their way into dinner Wolf was noticing something was wrong.

"Are you all right," he said, supporting his wife's back. "You look like you're about to faint."

"I'm not. I feel fine," Virginia insisted.

But her tight grip on Wolf's arm said otherwise. He kept close to her side. Every now and then he would give her a worried look.

The ballroom was decorated in emerald green with a special table set aside for Wendell's newly extended family. The bride and groom sat on one side with Wolf and Virginia and Leaf Fall seated directly across from them. Rose made sure that her cousin Red Riding the Third was seated next to her. And Lord Lewis was seated next to Wendell with Matilde. These eight people were still very new to the idea of being a "family." Still, each of them wanted it to work. Their conversation was uncertain at times, but they tried very hard to like each other.

Wolf noticed the special relationship between his sister and their newly discovered cousin Red Riding Hood the Third. Rose showed no signs of flashing green eyes to Red. In fact, she seemed to hover over her as if she were Red's protector. Rose urged her to eat and made sure that all her needs were met. Wolf still thought that Red looked rather lost, but not nearly so much as the last time he'd seen her during the war. She was healing.

About half way through the dinner, Virginia's coloring began to match the emerald green table cloth. Wolf of course was the first to notice. Leaf Fall was talking to Virginia at that moment, but the elf was so involved with what she was saying that she didn't perceive it.

"I will need you to come to the Seventh Kingdom with me next week," Leaf explained, daintily swishing around some pureed green vegetable on her plate. "So you can see how I run things. I'll have you transported back and forth between here and Wendell's castle by traveling dust, so you won't have to be away from home much."

"Virginia," Wolf whispered. "Are you all right

"I think…I think I'm going to be sick," Virginia said. She reached out for Wolf's hand and he helped her up.

"Virginia?" Tony asked from across the table.

But Virginia couldn't answer. Her mind was totally concentrated on getting to a more proper place to be sick. Her untimely exit was noticed by the rest of the table.

"Maybe I should go with them," Tony said, getting up.

"She'll be all right," Rose said. "I've served as mid-wife in wolf-mix pregnancies before. She's entering her second trimester. That means she's going to start having morning sickness."

"Oh, dear," Leaf Fall said. "I hope this won't affect her working as my Second."

"We can't all have morning sickness at convenient times the way you did," Matilde observed. "As I recall, with both of your pregnancies yours came at the same time every morning and didn't dare interrupt your work for the rest of the day."

"Well, I've always been orderly," Leaf said, her wings buzzing slightly. "And don't look so smug, Matilde. Just because you've never been through it."

Tony glanced at Matilde. A look of pain crossed her face and she fingered her white cane, but said nothing. It wasn't Leaf's fault. Raphaela had lived and died long before the elf was born. And Matilde had worked hard to keep the fact that her spirit still lived on in her cane a secret. She had always been afraid that either Mazarin or one of his followers would find out and hurt her. Though of course at this point, Raphaela's spirit was well on the way to being five hundred years old and therefore powerful enough to protect herself.

"Virginia's morning sickness will probably fall into a pattern in a couple of weeks," Rose said.

"Maybe I should go to her," Tony said.

Matilde nodded and followed him out. They met Wolf and Virginia coming back. Virginia was looking less green, but very weak. Her bloated belly seemed to drag her down.

"You all right, Honey?" Tony asked.

Virginia shook her head and buried her face in the collar of Wolf's azure blue jacket.

"Here," Matilde said. "Take this." And she thrust her cane into the young woman's hands. "It has healing powers, remember?"

Virginia clutched onto it with whitened fingers. It felt warm to the touch. As she leaned onto it, the heat traveled up her arm and through the rest of her body. Color began returning to her face and she stood up straighter.

"That will make her feel better," Matilde said. "I think you should get her to bed now. She's got a big day tomorrow and I'm sure she'd feel terrible if she missed Rose's wedding. The cane will keep that from happening."

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Wolf said. The slight smile on his girl's face certainly made him feel better.

"I think she should keep it through this trimester," Matilde continued. "Leaf is like a charging dragon when she gets her mind set on something. She's going to want Virginia to concentrate on becoming her Second. And I don't want her to miss that opportunity."

"You sure it won't take too much out of her?" Tony asked.

"Not with the cane," Matilde said.

"But what if you need it?" Wolf asked.

"If I do, I'll ask for it. But I think I can spare it for three months."

"Thank you," Wolf said. And he guided his wife upstairs to their room.

As soon as Matilde and Tony returned to the diningroom, Matilde told Leaf that Virginia would be using her cane to ease the burden of the next few months.

"Good," Leaf said. "I have lots of things I need her to learn."

The rest of the night followed without incident. Leaf Fall and Matilde talked mostly about the Council and of Virginia's new position within it. Usually, the Chancellor or heir to the throne served as Second. But Leaf was convinced that Virginia was the right choice for the job because of her intelligence and her ability to sympathize with others.

"I only wish my own daughters were like her," Leaf confided.

"Give them time," Matilde told her. "I wasn't all that interested in governing either until I was close to two hundred."

Tony and Wendell were kept busy answering questions about the wonders of centralized heating and hot water. All the visiting dignitaries wanted to hear more, especially Cinderella. Not only would it be a welcome luxury to her old bones, but she thought it might serve as a peace offering to the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson. He was so irritated that the Council of the Nine Kingdoms was lobbying him for a parliamentary government, that he had refused to attend Wendell's wedding. Cinderella was going there shortly and she thought she might soften his objections with the promise of a boiler system for The Great Snoozing Castle. Of course central heating would mean that he would probably run around naked all year long. But Cinderella thought if she could get a parliamentary system in place, she didn't care what state the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson went around in. At least the kingdom would be secure.

As for Rose and Red, they sat quietly in a private corner and talked about Ichabod.

"I have a new secretary," Red said, her green eyes wandering around the room without seeing anything. "He's an older man. Very quiet and very calm. I hardly notice when he's there. He's very efficient."

"But you miss Ichabod," Rose whispered.

"He used to jump every time I said his name. I'm afraid I made him the most nervous man in all of the Nine Kingdoms. Do you think he knows how much I depended on him?"

"I think he does, wherever he is. I've told you what he said when he died. He loved you."

"No one else ever knew me so well. Or put up with so much. I fear I will never find someone like him again. I've tried to think of ways in which I can honor him. But I haven't thought of anything."

"You placed a plaque over his grave commemorating his service to your kingdom, mentioning the love of a grateful queen."

"But that doesn't seem like enough. You know . . ." Red leaned into her cousin. "Sometimes I feel his presence in the castle, as if he's watching me. I know you'll think me foolish, but I find it comforting."

"Well," Rose said, with a tilt of her freckled face, "if King Cole's mother can keep an eye on him, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ichabod keeps an eye on you."

- - - - - - - - - -

Matilde and Tony were two of the last people in the castle to go to bed that evening. Silently they went up the stairs and into their room, the swish of the heavy gray lace in her skirt the only sound. Tony closed the door after them and waited for her to speak, but she said nothing.

"Are you going to be all right without Raphaela?" he asked at last.

"I think she wanted to help," Matilde said without looking up. "It's her nature to heal, after all."

"Does anyone else know who she is besides me?"

"No. It was so long ago. Prince Brutus, my uncle, and Mazarin are probably the only two other than myself who even remember her being born." Matilde sat on their king sized bed with a deep sigh. "You should have seen her, Tony. She was a beautiful child. So delicate, yet strong, with the pale skin and platinum hair of an ice fairy. She wanted to be a healer like her father. She knew it from the moment of birth, I think. I felt so lucky. Michael was already gone by then, from typhoid. She reminded me so much of him in temperament. I turned into a recluse after Michael died. But Raphaela would have none of that. She wanted to be out in the world, following in her father's footsteps. Some magical folk are ashamed of having a human in their family tree. But not my Raphaela. She was always so proud that her father was a human. When I saw that dieing vine that Mazarin had made her into, I almost died as well. To see my once vibrant child become a withering white vine…" Matilde's eyes filled with tears at the memory.

Tony sat down beside her and rubbed her back. He was always uncertain of how to deal with tears. Men of his generation on the other side of the mirror weren't supposed to cry or be sensitive, even if they were. He'd never learned how to deal with the emotions of others. That's why he'd left Virginia to work out most of her own heartaches. He simply hadn't known what to do.

"My mother," Matilde continued, "her name was Sabirah, she was close to a thousand years old when Raphael died. She was nearing the end of her own life, but she was still very powerful. She told me to cut the heart out of the vine. Then she called Raphaela's spirit back to it, so that she could continue her work as a healer."

"Your mother sounds like quite a mover and shaker," Tony said. "What with bringing her granddaughter back from the dead, sending dragons to other dimensions, fighting back Satyrs. And what were those other creatures Wendell's cousin mentioned?"

"Hsigo. Winged monkeys."

"Oh, you mean like in the Wizard of Oz."

"What?" Matilde said, looking around at him.

"Never mind. Let's get back to your mother."

"Did you know that after her death, she served as Cinderella's fairy godmother?"

"No, I didn't." Tony pulled Matilde into his chest and locked his arms around her.

"Just as Snow White has served as Virginia's. Many of the stronger souls stay around after death. Either to do evil as Snow White's stepmother tried to do. Or to do some last bit of good, as Snow and my mother did. I suppose Raphaela will do something like that sooner or later. I suppose I shall as well."

"Well, I appreciate your giving Raphaela to Virginia."

"It's nothing. She has her own destiny, you see. Apart from me."

- - - - - - - - - -

Virginia had felt so well after taking Matilde's cane that she had actually asked for the rest of her dinner once she and Wolf got back to their room. "To replace what I lost," she explained.

Wolf being the dutiful husband immediately sent for a tray and stood over her as she ate. He was so concerned, he didn't even remember that he hadn't finished eating his own dinner. Food was not important when it came to his creamy dreamy girl and little cub. Afterwards, Virginia felt ready to go to bed. Wolf helped her into a soft flannel gown and tucked her in, Matilde's cane in her hands.

"How are you feeling?" Wolf asked.

"Hmm?" Virginia couldn't talk. She felt like she was floating on a fluffy white cloud in a television commercial back home.

"I said, how are you feeling?" He brushed her dark hair back from her face.

"Fine." she said dreamily.

"Good. You just hold onto the cane. I remember how much it helped me. You know, I really enjoyed tonight. I mean, before you got sick. It reminded me of our wedding."

"Hmm?"

"I remember how much I wanted to get everything right. And how angry Lord Rupert kept getting me. Oh! And remember how I slept out in front of the castle the night before. I can't believe you talked Rose into following that same silly custom. But the best part was when I saw you march toward me at the wedding, looking all beautiful."

Virginia didn't answer at all this time. She was now fully asleep.

The singing ring wiggled its head and stood up as straight as a ring can sit.

"While the cane is in her keep," the ring sang softly.

"Have no fear and let her sleep.

No illness will she have to bear,

Safe within her sister's care."

"She does look peaceful, doesn't she?" Wolf said, patting the covers in place around her. "Like a sleeping cub."

"There's another one that I fear for," the ring continued,

"I cannot sense her anymore.

Something now does not feel right.

I cannot sense my dear Snow White."

Wolf frowned. "Maybe she's just busy doing fairy godmother stuff. It's not like she can be sick or anything. I mean, she's already dead."

"What you say is true, I know," the ring sang, "Then why should I feel worried so?"

"I'm sure she's just catching up on some important business. And don't fairy godmothers fade away at some point? Maybe she decided her work here was over."

"But then of course I must ask why, why she never said goodbye?" There were tears in the little ring's eyes.

Wolf looked away and nodded gravely. "Well, you know. She probably just wanted to slip away unnoticed."

"I should not feel such concern," the ring said with a sniff. One day perhaps she will return."

Wolf rubbed the ring's tiny head gently. How do you comfort a ring anyway? "Maybe she'll write or something."

"Maybe." the little ring sang with a sigh.

Virginia, of course, was too far into sleep to hear any of this. She was off in a dream, in a gray place surrounded by purple mist. In front of her was a reflecting pool of water, but it was murky like her thoughts. She couldn't see the bottom of it. All around her was a short circular wall of brick. It may not have been tall like the tower walls that imprisoned Rapunzel, but they were strong enough to keep out unwanted things.

Behind her a leafless white vine grew up out of the mist. It grew and grew, twining and branching in on itself until it stood at the height of a human. Virginia didn't turn, but she could still see it, as one always sees in a dream. Virginia knew that a woman was standing in the midst of the vine somehow, a woman of about her age, with platinum blond hair, pulled up in a curly mass at the back of her head. It was Raphaela, Matilde's daughter. But of course, Virginia didn't know that.

"You sit alone," Raphaela said. "Touching me has eased your physical pain, but others still remain."

Virginia didn't answer. She kept gazing into the pool.

"What do you see?" Raphaela asked.

Without turning around, Virginia said, "Taffeta dresses touched with perfume. A blue washcloth. A teddy bear all alone. A hair comb dipped in poison. And a rose reborn."

"These things are of your mother. It is good that you can see them now and recognize their meaning. The walls around you have grown shorter, but they still exist. Let me come in and take them down the rest of the way. Little Sister, you must go into yourself and face your fears."

"No."

"I will shield you."

Tears came to Virginia's eyes as she watched the reflection in the water change. "My baby. I don't want to hurt my baby."

"You won't."

"She did," Virginia said, meaning her mother.

"You are not the same," a voice in the mist answered. A form took shape on the other side of the reflecting pool. It was still on the outside of Virginia's wall, but more within Virginia's range of sight. It was the Evil Queen, dressed as she had been on the day of her death. But her face was not twisted with confusion or hate this time. It was a mother's face, filled with concern and regret. "You are not me!" she insisted. She came at the wall and pushed, but was not able to get through. Christine wanted to comfort her daughter, but this wasn't something that directly involved their relationship and she had no right of entry. "You won't make the mistakes I did. You're not me!"

"We can't reach her until she's ready," Raphaela said. "You can heal a physical wound with touch, without the agreement of the one who suffers. But an emotional wound can only be touched if the sufferer chooses."

"She's been through so much," Christine whispered.

"Yes. And she has healed many things. But this still remains. She fears that her relationship with her child will be like yours was with her. She will probably continue to fear until she sees the truth of your words." Raphaela turned back to Virginia. "We will not give up on you, Little Sister. We will be with you every day for three months. And beyond that, if need be."

"No," Christine said. "She won't go through the same thing, will she?"

Raphaela's eyes were full of sympathy. "Some things are passed down and can't be avoided. I will soften it as much as I can."

"But it won't…all be the same, will it?"

"No. She is yours and her father's too. Only this one thing will pass to her. Other women have dealt with it, she will too. But when it comes, it will make her afraid. Make her fear that what happened to you will happen to her. And even after it passes, she may give it more power than it deserves."

"How does she even know? Who told her? Tony?"

Raphaela turned toward Virginia to search her mind. She had created this dream place where they could all meet. Christine and Virginia's spirits could converse, but they could not read each other's minds. Only Raphaela could do that. "No. It was your mother. But I can see from your mind that she only told Virginia half the story. She told her of your changes after her birth. But she said nothing of your father."

"Daddy?" Virginia looked up, a childlike expression of worry on her face. "Will I lose him?"

"Lose him?" Raphaela asked reading her thoughts. "To Matilde?" A smile finally came to her pale lips. "No, Little Sister, you will simply gain more family. And in the meantime, your mother and I will be here waiting."

Virginia looked back into the pool at her own reflection. But the eyes and face that stared back at her were not hers. They were Christine's. For that is who she feared she would become.


	11. Chapter 11 Royal Wedding

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**Royal Wedding**

When Virginia woke up she found Wolf already awake and sitting over her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, worry creasing his forehead.

Virginia smiled a sleepy smile and stretched. Matilde's cane was still in her hands. "Much better."

"Good." Wolf smiled and ran his long fingers tenderly across her face. "You were sleeping very soundly. I don't think you moved all night."

"I had some strange dreams."

"That's how the cane works I think. It takes care of the physical wounds right away and tries to heal the mind through dreams. It showed me many many things."

"Do you remember them?"

Wolf tilted his head left, then right. "Mmm, most things."

"I don't remember that much. Except that my mother was there. And there was this lady in the center of a white vine."

"That's the spirit of the cane. See?" Wolf pulled the cane of twisted wood up so she could see it more clearly. "It looks like it was cut from a white vine. See how smooth the surface is? It must be very very old."

"The vine-lady called me 'Little Sister.'"

"I guess she feels you're a kindred spirit. The ring mentioned something about a sister last night too."

"He did?" Virginia raised the pearl ring to her face. But its little eyes were closed.

"I guess he's tired," Wolf said. "He was worrying about Snow White last night."

"Why?"

"He said he hadn't heard from her in a while."

"I wouldn't worry. She just basically comes and goes. We'll hear from her when she's ready. So, where's breakfast?"

"You want to eat here or downstairs?"

"Downstairs, I think. So I can show everyone that I'm still among the living."

"Right away," Wolf said, springing up.

He dressed quickly in one of the newer outfits that he'd bought during their honeymoon, a khaki one with crisp white braiding on the pants and jacket. It was a wedding breakfast after all. He wanted to dress accordingly. As he patted his hair back, he closed his eyes and imagined big platters filled with bacon. Next to them were stacks of pancakes topped with mounds of strawberry cream and fried eggs with cheese. Since he'd neglected to finish dinner the night before, he intended to make up for it. When he turned around, he expected to see Virginia all ready to go. But instead, she was still standing in front of her closet wondering what to wear. He knew from experience that urging her to hurry would only irk her and delay things further. So he leaned against the light green walls of their room and waited.

Virginia sighed over her dresses, one hand rubbing the growing girth of her stomach. "What to wear, what to wear?" she murmured. There really wasn't that much of a choice. Like Wolf, she had bought some new clothes, but not too many. And already a lot of them were getting tight. In the end she chose a casual dress of very dark lavender because it was just a touch looser than the others.

Wolf shook his head. He wasn't one to involve himself in the ways of fashion, but there was a definite need here. "I think we're going to have to get you some more new clothes," he observed. "Especially if you're going to be Leaf Fall's Second on the Council. You're going to need a bigger wardrobe."

"No," Virginia said, making a face. "I don't want too many clothes. I've never been much of a clothes horse." She remembered her mother's closet which was always full of fussy clothing. Dresses that Virginia knew were more important to her mother than she was. She didn't intend to be like that, even if she was a princess and a Second on the Council. "I can make do."

Wolf didn't know what a clothes horse was and he was afraid to ask because it might make them even later for breakfast. A clothes horse? A horse that wore clothes? Why would a horse do that? The closest thing to a horse wearing clothes that he could think of were military horses that sometimes wore pieces of armor or had material thrown under their saddle with the crest of the ranking lord on it. Maybe in Virginia's world it was considered overdone to dress horses up like that. Well, he could certainly agree with that. Still, he wondered if Virginia wasn't taking things too far. There were certain times when certain clothes were proper. The blue jeans he'd seen her wear most of the time back in New York City, for instance, were good for very casual wear. But they weren't proper for a palace or the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. Lord Rupert had made attempts to get Virginia to dress up more, but she was resisting. Wolf didn't want to fight her on it. "Pick your battles," his self-help books said. He thought perhaps Leaf Fall or Matilde would be a better opponent in the clothes battle than he would be.

- - - - - - - - - -

When they were finally on their way to breakfast, they met Matilde in the hallway outside their room. "Oh, there you are!" she said. "I was just coming to look for you. How do you feel, Child?" Matilde touched Virginia's arm affectionately. "You look better. Did you sleep well? Did the cane help?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Virginia said.

"Good. You hold onto it then."

"I had some funny dreams, though. I met this woman in a vine. Wolf thinks she might be the spirit of the cane. She called me 'Little Sister.' Do you know what that means?"

Matilde's mouth opened hesitantly. She knew exactly what it meant. Raphaela had already accepted Virginia as part of her family. Raphaela knew Tony and Matilde were planning to be married shortly and that, in fact, they already felt married. Raphaela liked family titles for the most part. She always referred to Leaf Fall as her sister also (even though Leaf was a step-sister who didn't even know anything of her existence). And she referred to Prince Brutus (who knew of her birth but not of her continued life) as 'my great uncle.'

It was unlikely, though, that Raphaela would ever refer to Tony as father. She had never done that with Centaurea (Matilde's last husband who died at Mazarin's hands). It was strange when you considered that Raphaela accepted Centaurea's daughter Leaf Fall as her sister, but would not give a family title to Centaurea himself. Matilde had asked Raphaela about it once and she had said that some family titles must be earned. Although she respected Centaurea and they had a passing acquaintance, she had no real relationship with him and so could never call him father. Raphaela was very cool and logical on most things. But where this one situation was concerned, she seemed to have a lot of emotion. She had never known her real father. And the importance of the position had risen to where she could not give away that title easily.

But how to explain the little sister comment? It wasn't the right moment to tell Virginia Raphaela's story. A wedding was about to take place and Matilde's relationship with Virginia was still new and uncertain. How well would she take to the news that she was about to have a step-sister who was a cane? Virginia hadn't even gotten used to the idea of Matilde marrying Tony yet. "I suspect she just felt close to you," Matilde suggested, which was in essence the truth.

"Wolf said the same thing."

"Are you on your way to breakfast now?" Matilde asked, changing the subject

"Yes," Wolf said eagerly.

"Well, I was on my way to tell you that Rose has asked for Virginia. She's got a bad case of pre-wedding jitters. I'm told she's pacing and circling her room so much that the mice living in-between the floors are nearing a state of madness."

"I'll go to her," Virginia said. "Rose was there for me when I needed her."

"What about breakfast?" Wolf asked, looking stricken.

"We'll have a tray sent up for Virginia," Matilde said, hooking her arm through Wolf's and pulling him toward the stairs. "Meanwhile, I think you might try to calm Wendell. Bridegrooms get jitters too you know."

Virginia watched her husband and future step-mother depart. She thought to herself that Matilde was a whirlwind who was used to getting her own way. Was she the same way with her father? Virginia hadn't really seen much of them together yet.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Rose?" Virginia called out as she knocked at the anxious bride's door. "It's Virginia."

"Thank goodness!" Rose answered as she flung open the door. Her tone was that of someone who'd been saved from certain death.

Virginia had been preparing herself to act as the properly supportive matron of honor. But instead, it was all she could do to keep from laughing. Rose's head was completely covered with little metal curlers that stood out at a hundred different odd angles.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Rose said. "Please, come in."

"You look like you're wired for sound," Virginia said, pointing to the curlers.

"Wired?"

"The curlers."

"Oh, these." Rose's freckled hands flew up to her hair. "Lord Rupert made me wear these to bed last night. That Penelope. You know, the Couturier's First Assistant? She's been complaining endlessly about my hair being down for the wedding. Finally Rupert promised to curl it and pin the front part up. He was here last night overseeing this mess. He's supposed to come in this afternoon and prepare my hair personally. Honestly, Virginia! I hate to think how it's going to turn out."

"Well..." Virginia said, stifling a smile, "if it's really that bad we can always just wet it down."

"I'm so nervous!" Rose strode across her room in wide steps, her bare feet thumping against the shining wood floor.

"It will be fine. I was nervous too, remember?"

"Not as much as me," Rose said, coming to a stop. "I almost took a bite out of Rupert last night. Not a very queenly thing to do. Wendell's cousins would have loved that. Probably would have told him again what a feral animal I am."

"How did Rupert take it? I mean your almost biting him."

"Rupert? Nothing scares him. If I'd bitten him, he would just have bitten me back. He's a man with a mission."

"That he is. How did you sleep in those curlers?"

"Sitting up. I'm wondering now if it was such a good idea for me to spend the night away from Wendell. At least then part of my energy would have been drained off."

Virginia didn't need to ask what Rose meant. She knew all about the increase in libido that wolves went through during the full moon. It was only one night away now. "Considering the way you're acting I think this was better idea. Too easy to get into a fight. Save your energy for the honeymoon. Or, take a bite of Rupert if you have to."

That got Rose to smile. "He's a darling, but he is a bit hyper isn't he?"

"Just a bit," Virginia laughed.

- - - - - - - - - -

At one o'clock Rupert arrived with the gowns and a retinue of helpers. The team of dressers attended first to Virginia. They guided her to the standing mirrors and helped her change. As soon as the slightly remodeled emerald green dress was done up at the back, Virginia realized that Rupert had performed magic. It looked lovely.

Meanwhile, Rupert sat Princess Rose down, undid her curlers, and put the finishing touches to her coif. No surgeon ever performed a more delicate operation. Rupert's concentration was intense as he wound each curl in just the right position and pinned the front parts onto her head. Whenever he needed something, one of his helpers would hand it to him.

"Isn't it a bit full?" Rose said. To her it looked like a big red bush. She would have tossed Rupert aside and called for a bucket of water to be thrown over her head, if she hadn't been so nervous. There were just minutes to go now.

"Your Highness doesn't understand," Rupert said. "Your hair needs to be full and buoyant in order to maintain its curl under the weight of the veil and the baby's breath. And then there's the crown..."

"Oh, I forgot that," Rose said. The natural blush in her cheeks suddenly faded. Wendell had decided not to give her a separate coronation because of the rudeness that his cousins had shown her. He was afraid they might make trouble if given the chance. So, he arranged to have her crowned queen as soon as she was legally his wife. Rose appreciated the honor. But it just made a difficult day more difficult.

"All right," Rupert said. "I think Princess Rose is ready for her gown now. All she needs is a touch of color for her cheeks.

A make-up woman who had been standing by nodded and went to work. She whipped up a series of powders on her palette to get just the right color.

Now Rupert turned and looked at Virginia. He examined her from a distance, and then up close, squatting on the floor to make sure her shoes peeked out from under her gown just the right amount. "Perfect!" he declared. The dressers breathed a sigh of relief. "Dressers! To the bride!" Rupert said with a dramatic wave of his hand. And the dressers immediately picked up Rose's gown and held it ready for her to step into.

As Rose took her turn by the standing mirrors, Virginia sat down before the white bureau. Rupert teased Virginia's hair up a bit. Then he called for her headpiece.

"As promised," Rupert announced, "I have a headband of baby's breath. He held it out reverently for a moment so Virginia could see it plainly. It had a central band of the white flowers, with numerous delicate offshoots. When Rupert put it into Virginia's hair it looked as if the flowers were naturally part of her.

It reminded Virginia in a way of the vine-lady in her dreams. Her eyes traveled to the cane. It was leaning up against the wall next to the door where the dressers had put it.

"Why are you moving your head?" Rupert demanded.

"The cane. It's all right for me to carry it during the ceremony, isn't it? It's supposed to be a long one with the crowning and all. I might need it."

Rupert's eyes flashed in the direction Virginia was pointing to. He was afraid she was talking about some atrocious old piece of brown wood that would mar his beautiful creation. But then he saw it was Matilde's white cane. "I think it will do nicely as an accessory," he said. "Very woodsy and white, just like your headband."

The pinnacle of the dressing ceremony, of course, was Rose's veil. Rupert put it into place himself, standing on a stool with three of the dressers holding onto him so he wouldn't tilt over. "It's a masterpiece!" he declared, clapping his hands together. Everyone around him seemed to agree.

- - - - - - - - - -

At two o'clock Herbert the perfect butler knocked at the door. Rupert gave Rose and Virginia one last look. Then he disappeared to oversee the rest of the wedding. Herbert offered Virginia his arm and they led the way. Rose followed behind with Rupert's team of assistants carrying her train.

Tony and Wolf were waiting at the foot of the stairs for them. Tony was beaming from ear to ear. When he'd married Christine, he'd dreamt of having a large family. Finally he'd gotten it. Rose and Wendell were almost like his own children. He was getting used to Wolf. And Virginia would soon be presenting him with a grandchild.

"You look beautiful," Tony told Virginia as he kissed her.

Wolf took Virginia's arm as if she were the most precious thing on earth, which of course she was to him. It wasn't their wedding day this time, but it almost felt as if it were. "Lord Rupert put a chair near the spot where you're supposed to stand," Wolf whispered. "In case you need to sit down."

"That man thinks of everything," Virginia said. She leaned her head against her husband's chest and savored the feeling of him. Wolf was dressed in the same kind of dark green suit that Tony was, with a white ascot at his throat. In addition, Virginia caught the scent of a familiar soft cologne. Wolf didn't like her to wear cologne. He said it interfered with her natural scent. But since Virginia didn't have his sense of smell, there were times when he wore it to let her know he was in an amorous mood. Evidently they were going to do their own celebrating that night.

Rupert stood by the doorway of the ballroom, looking like an anxious stage-manager in a very important and expensive play. Harp music was already playing and was supposed to continue during the entrance of the wedding party. It was hard to hear actual counts in the delicate melody, but somehow Rupert did. "Five, Six, Seven, Eight…Go," he coached. And Wolf and Wendell started down the aisle. Wendell was dressed in a white suit made especially for the occasion, with a deep green sash that matched the other gentlemen's suits.

For Wendell, this was a proud day. Rose was the most beautiful girl in the world to him, with a nobility that had been obvious from the start…Even when she was wearing brown leather and serving as a soldier. Being apart from her for only one night had been almost unbearable. His heart beat loudly as he waited for her to come down the aisle. In just a few minutes, she would be his wife and queen.

"Five, Six, Seven, Eight. Go," Rupert said, and Virginia started down the aisle. As she passed, she noticed a few of the guests lean into each other and whisper. They were obviously noticing her expanding girth. She ignored it and concentrated instead on the sounds the cane was making as it tapped lightly on the white and black squares of the floor. She noticed Matilde and Leaf Fall sitting near the front of the congregation with Leaf's Husband Woodbine.

Woodbine was tall with longish white hair. Both he and Leaf were wearing dark green, but not because of Rupert's color scheme. Green was a favorite color of the elves. The elf king was also wearing a crown, which was really overdone considering that the actual ruler of the Seventh Kingdom was Leaf Fall. But Woodbine always wore a crown. Some even joked that he wore it in his bed and bath. He felt it was his right because he came from a noble family and had properly sired a pair of heirs to the throne. Leaf, on the other hand, never wore a crown. Not even at state affairs. If you'd asked her why, she would have told you that it got in the way. She had things to do. She couldn't be bothered with whether or not her crown was falling off. But Matilde would have said that Leaf didn't wear her crown because she never felt quite worthy of the job. Which would also explain why she was always so busy trying to be the perfect queen.

At the right moment, Rupert cued the court musicians. A series of horns took over from the harp to let everyone know that the bride was about to enter.

"Are you ready?" Tony asked Rose.

Rose was too excited to speak. She simply nodded. Tony offered his arm and they proceeded in.

Rupert was so overcome by the spectacle that he didn't even bother to count. Herbert the perfect butler appeared at his side.

"It's so flawless," Rupert said, tears coming to his eyes. "I wish I could sign it. It's…a work of art."

To Rose the march down the aisle lasted for days. People on both sides were standing and looking at her. Some were smiling, like King Cole. But most of them just stood by with serious expressions. Her wolf compatriots in the army stood at attention and probably would have saluted if they'd felt it proper. No wolf had ever reached the level she was about to. It was a momentous occasion.

At first Rose was only conscious of Tony's arm. She clung to it as if she were considering running away. But Tony kept on, his steps assured and strong. When they were halfway there, Rose finally saw Wendell waiting for her with Wolf by his side. She saw the proud smile on his face and she knew somehow it would be all right. From then on she stopped being afraid.

Wendell for his part thought that he had never seen anything lovelier. She was more enchanting than the most beautiful fairy princess in any of their myriad fables. How could anybody not see that she was meant to be a queen? He stepped forward and took her gloved hand. It was delicate yet strong. Tony gave them both a bow. Then he stepped off and joined Matilde among the regular guests.

Neither Rose nor Wendell felt the last steps as they moved toward the round faced Bishop. They didn't really hear much of the ceremony, but somehow they remembered to answer with the right words. After the Bishop declared them husband and wife, the Chancellor of the Fourth Kingdom stepped forward with a crown and Rose knelt with the Bishop's help to receive it. Wendell spoke the same words that had been spoken over Snow White's head so long ago, charging her with the sacred duty of protecting both their subjects and their realm. Then he placed the crown on her head and proclaimed her queen of the Fourth Kingdom. There was no kiss in the ceremony because Rupert had decided it would be out of place either before or after the crowning.

Exultant music followed them out as they retraced their way down the aisle and out of the hall, followed by Virginia and Wolf. Rose was now giddy. She wanted to run and hug everyone that she knew within the congregation. But she didn't dare. Rupert would have caught her by her train and dragged her back into position. He had planned the receiving line too, after all. First came the royal guests and their partners, then the Chancellors of the various kingdoms, then the mixed guests of varying importance.

Matilde, as the oldest of the kings and queens came first, with Tony just behind her. She bowed low to both Wendell and Rose to set an example for everyone. Tony's own congratulations to the happy couple were filled with love and warmth. Leaf Fall and her husband came next. Leaf did an admirable bow, but Woodbine did more of a tilt, mostly because he was afraid of losing his crown. That's the problem with crowns, you move the wrong way and you might lose it. Cinderella came next. She did a deep curtsy with the help of two handmaids and a very broad smile to cover the difficulty her two hundred-year-old legs were having. King Cole followed, finally looking like the jolly old soul he was. Right behind him came King Eranthis and his son and daughter-in-law. The younger dwarves were dressed to the hilt again, in sharp contrast with the older dwarf's conservative attire, but all their smiles were broad and warm. Behind the dwarves came Prince Brutus, uncle to Matilde, his gray hair looking wild as usual. Princess Alicia was not present because she was in charge of the battalions of Ice Maidens keeping watch over the trolls in the Third Kingdom.

After the procession of crowned and uncrowned royals, the Chancellors moved forward. The Chancellor of the Fourth Kingdom approached first because of his special relationship to Wendell and Rose. Then the rest came in a block and bowed together. No one noticed that the Chancellor of the Fifth Kingdom stood off farther than the rest. His name was Gavrilo and he was of broad stature, made more so by his taste for baggy clothing. He was attired in a black suit that day and his face wore its usual stern expression, highlighted by a great mass of gray hair well peppered with brown. He leaned upon a craggy black staff and shuffled as he walked. Most people assumed he had a bad case of arthritis. And everyone knew he was as serious as King Cole was merry. He kept very much to himself at the wedding, avoiding the wolf guests especially. He was also the first of the guests to leave.

As the Chancellors moved past, Rose caught a scent that was definitely animal, but not wolf. She couldn't place it and it was gone almost before she'd caught it. But then, the line-up of guests continued and she had no more time to think of it.

After the Chancellors, came the bulk of the guests. Among them were various lords and ladies and military figures. The wolf guests were toward the back. They appeared in a block as the Chancellors had done and bowed before Wendell and Rose with a reverence that no one else matched.

Later on during the sumptuous dinner, two wolf battalion leaders sought out Wolf. Both of them were full blooded wolves. Carpathian, the older of the two had fought briefly with Rose and Wolf during the beginning of The Giant War. Then he had been asked to lead the wolf troops of the First Kingdom. He was still serving in that capacity. The other wolf was a younger male named Kobza who had also served with Rose and had taken over the command of her troops after Rose had resigned her commission in preparation for her new job as queen. If truth be told, Kobza had a slight crush on Rose. But he was very proud of the position she had attained as Wendell's wife.

"Prince Wolf," Carpathian said with a proper bow of respect, "we want to invite you to go hunting with us during the full moon." He was a large gray wolf with a confident stance. His wet black nose and brown eyes caught everything.

"Yes," young Kobza said, his tail wagging eagerly at the thought. He tended to pant when he talked, as if he couldn't quite get the words out fast enough. His coat was gray mixed with tan. "King Wendell has given us permission to hunt in the woods around the castle. And next month, Queen Rose says she may join us for the full moon hunt as well."

"Of course, I won't be here then," Carpathian said.

"How are things in the First Kingdom," Wolf asked.

"Queen Cinderella and her Chancellor are both good rulers," Carpathian said.

"And the Parliament?"

"I have no complaints about them either. They have been gracious to us. Whenever I ask for funds they have always complied. Queen Cinderella says they know a good thing when they see it. There is a warmth there that I very much enjoy."

"Some people say the First Kingdom is the most magical of them all," Wolf said.

"Well, I don't know if the elf kingdom would agree with that. But it is special."

"Count me in!" Wolf said. "We'll do an early morning hunt perhaps, so I can have time with Virginia."

"Of course," Carpathian said. "Shall we say the first hour after midnight?"

- - - - - - - - - -

Before the evening grew too late, Wendell and Rose slipped off to their room to change. As soon as Wendell closed the door behind them, he swept his wife into his arms and kissed her.

"I've been waiting to do that since we said, 'I do,'" Wendell said, running his hands up and down the lace of her gown.

"That's what you get for allowing Rupert to cut out the kiss," Rose said.

"Well, what could I do? It did seem out of place with the crowning. And speaking of crowns…" He reached up and adjusted hers. "Yours is a little askew."

"It was doing that all afternoon and evening. I thought Rupert was going to leap onto someone's shoulders a couple of times to set it right. The veil and the curls kept knocking it off balance. Luckily the baby's breath at the top kept it from falling off."

"You look beautiful," Wendell said, his eyes adoring her. "A true queen."

"Why didn't you wear your crown?" Rose asked.

"I wanted today to be about you." He pulled her into his arms for another lingering kiss. If only her gown hadn't been so darned full with such a long train. He wanted to get in closer.

"We've got a carriage waiting," Rose reminded him.

"Yes. Let's get out of here."

They dressed quickly and left their wedding clothes on the bed for Rupert to attend to. There was a chill in the leather interior of the carriage, but they didn't notice because they were snuggled together under a heavy quilt.

"Alone at last," Wendell said, "with my lovely wife." And he kissed her again. Her wool dress allowed him to hold her closer than her expansive wedding gown had allowed back in their room. She moaned in his embrace. How long was this drive, he wondered.

As the carriage pulled out past the reflecting pool to the woods, a wolf howl sounded. The call was taken up by a hundred other wolves, their tone long and jubilant.

"They're giving us a tribute," Rose said, pulling away for a moment.

Wendell nodded and then pulled her back into his arms.


	12. Chapter 12 Moon Wishes

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

**Moon Wishes**

At that time of the year the gypsies always gathered in a southwestern corner of the First Kingdom. There they would band together against the cold and snows of winter. They would gossip, trade, and spend long days around the fire. No strangers ever came near their great encampment. And for the most part, the authorities of the First Kingdom ignored them as long as they didn't cause any trouble.

There was one gypsy woman, however, who lived there year round. Her name was Elsa and she was very old for a human. That's why she didn't travel during the rest of the year. Her ancient body didn't like riding the bumps in the road anymore. She was tired of the lame horses and broken carriage wheels and constant stream of people she don't know and couldn't trust. She decided to stay in the winter campgrounds year round, where she could meet and greet all of her people as they came and went.

No one knew how old Elsa was, not even her. Her parents had never been careful about remembering birth dates. But most people guessed she was at least a hundred. The wrinkles of her face were too deep for her to be any younger. Luckily her mind was sharp, even if her looks and body were not. She served as something of a history book for her people. Gypsies don't like to write things down. Their history is kept in the minds of its oldest members.

On the afternoon before the full moon old Elsa summoned a middle-aged gypsy named Pura to her wagon. Pura had been traveling apart from the others with her boy Timka, who was just fifteen. They always kept to themselves except during wintertime. Some whispered that Timka was part wolf, but few knew for sure. That is, except for Elsa. There wasn't much that she didn't know.

Elsa knew that Pura's marriage to Timka's half-wolf father had been arranged. And that he had had a younger brother who was also a half-wolf. Both boys had been "adopted" by their caravan because wolf blood was considered strong. Part-wolves could hunt better than ordinary men. And their senses were better attuned for traveling at night through unfamiliar surroundings.

Wilhelm and his brother Lazar had belonged to a different caravan then Pura. But both groups spent a large chunk of the summer in the Sixth Kingdom. Wilhelm's younger brother Lazar was well liked by everyone. He was an easygoing red-head who shared his natural gifts freely and gave himself fully to his caravan. Wilhelm, however, was the opposite. He was dark haired, rebellious and distrustful. By the time he reached young manhood, everyone had developed a dislike for him. He was only tolerated because Lazar was so well thought of.

The trouble came when Lazar started showing an interest in a human farm girl in the Sixth Kingdom. He was too honest to lie about what he was. He asked the girl to marry him, proclaiming her to be his one true love. She was taken with him as well and announced the engagement to her horrified parents. They said they would never allow their daughter to marry a gypsy. And when they found out he was also a wolf, his fate was sealed. The girl's parents had Lazar killed because they were convinced he'd bewitched their daughter. Then they immediately forced her into a marriage with an elderly widower.

With Lazar gone, Wilhelm's position within the caravan crumbled. The gypsies began grumbling against him. If there had been a chance of finding a better life outside, Wilhelm would have left. But there wasn't. He thought perhaps if he married a gypsy girl, his caravan might see him in a better light. A wolf mates for life, but not all of them have the luxury of finding their one true love. Wilhelm realized that he would have to do the best he could with the women at hand. He tried courting some of the ladies in his own caravan, but none would have him because they all knew of his dark nature. That's when he started looking toward other caravans.

Pura was an extra daughter in a family that had far too many of them. Her mother told her that she had read in the cards that marrying this half-wolf would put her within reach of much wealth. Pura had agreed to the match because of this prediction. But in the years that passed, she came to believe that her mother lied to her simply to get rid of her.

The marriage between Pura and Wilhelm was not a happy one. He was faithful, but he was also moody and bad tempered. There was enough food and animal skins because he was a good hunter. But there was no closeness and certainly no wealth. During the full moon, his impatience with her and their fellow gypsies became unbearable. Eventually Wilhelm was shot by a farmer with a crossbow for poaching. When the farmer realized that he had killed a half-wolf, he gathered the local farmers together and they went looking for more wolves within the gypsy camp, vowing to kill any they found. Out of fear, the gypsies fled. They told Pura she should return to her father's caravan "for her own safety." But Pura also realized that they feared Wilhelm and his brother were cursed and that it might extend to her and her then unborn son as well.

With no where else to go, Pura returned to her old caravan. When Timka was born, she was relieved to see that he had no tail. But he had other wolf instincts and abilities, such as the increased sense of smell. When he hit puberty at thirteen, the wolf part of the boy became more obvious. He was restless during full moons and prone to trouble. Pura began staying apart from the other gypsies, except during the winter retreat.

When she climbed into Elsa's wagon, Pura found the old woman tossing various herbs into a small caldron, her pale lower lip almost sinking into its depths as she read the magic encased in the liquid.

"How much do you know of your husband's natural parents?" Elsa asked, her watery gray eyes looking up at the younger woman.

Pura had once had beautiful sable hair, but it was now threaded with white. She was very thin, but strong. She had kept her own wagon and horses by herself since the birth of her son, with no help from any man. "I know that my husband and his brother were rescued from a burning house when their parents were taken and burned for poaching."

Elsa nodded her white head. "That is true. I remember it well. Your husband's caravan was proud of their prizes. They looked forward to making use of the boys' great hunting skills and other wolf senses."

"Yes," Pura said, with a bitter laugh. "A great deal of good it did. Both half-wolves brought trouble to their caravan. They were cursed. I don't blame their adopted families for asking me to leave."

"Did you know that a half she-wolf with red hair came looking for your husband and his brother about a year ago?"

Pura shook her head, but leaned forward with interest, her worn shawl falling away from her shoulders.

"She said that Wilhelm and Lazar were her brothers, separated from her when their parents were murdered. Since they were both dead, your husband's adopted family didn't think there was any harm in telling her the truth. That Wilhelm had been killed as a poacher and that Lazar had been killed for showing interest in a human girl. But of course they did not mention you or Timka because this woman was not of our people.

"Yesterday one of Wilhelm's caravan brought me a new coin that someone had passed to him from the Fourth Kingdom. It was newly made in honor of King Wendell's bride." Elsa's gnarled hand pulled the coin from her skirt pocket and slid it slowly across the table to Pura. "The woman that's pictured on it, this Queen Rose, she's supposed to be half-wolf, descended from the House of Red. Your husband's family says this is the same woman who came to see them about Wilhelm and Lazar. They foolishly forgot to remember her name. But one other of our people heard the name of this new queen's mother. It was Scarlet and she was the sister of Queen Red Riding Hood II."

"Scarlet?" Pura's dark eyes darted around the dusty wagon as her pulse quickened.

"I see you've heard the name."

"Wilhelm said he could not remember his real parents, but that he'd been told their names were Scarlet and Josiah."

"Yes. Lazar's adopted mother, who is no longer with us, felt sorry for them. She insisted that Wilhelm and his brother keep their wolf names and know their real parentage. I remember her telling me long ago that Lazar looked very much like his mother. And I suspect this Queen Rose bears a resemblance as well. If all these things are so, and the visions within my caldron suggest they are, your son Timka may be of royal blood. You should take him to the Fourth Kingdom and claim his birthright. It will honor the gypsies and perhaps bring you wealth."

For the first time in many years, Pura smiled. Was this what her mother had read in the cards so long ago? "I will do as you say, Old Woman. After the full moon is over, I will go to the Fourth Kingdom."

- - - - - - - - - -

Wolf pulled an extra quilt over Virginia as she slept and tucked it carefully around her naked shoulders. She had the hint of a smile on her face. "My creamy dreamy delight," he whispered. But she didn't hear him. She was lost in a satisfied sleep. Unfortunately, his full moon appetites were not yet completely sated. Not till he'd gone hunting in the woods. "Watch over her," he said to the singing ring.

The ring smiled and hummed softly.

"I won't be late."

Wolf let himself out of their bedroom as quietly as he could.

As soon as he was gone, Raphaela flew off the bureau where she'd been left earlier and settled onto the bed next to Virginia. She wanted to be sure to be close at hand in case Virginia woke up feeling ill. The singing ring hummed a welcome. The first time Virginia had touched Raphaela's wooden surface he had known who she was. He could read her through touch just as he had been able to sense the presence of Virginia's baby. The ring knew Raphaela was Matilde's daughter because he'd seen the signs in her heart. He also sensed it was supposed to be a secret. The ring loved to divulge secrets, but at the same time he also knew how to keep them. He'd only slipped once when he'd told Wolf that Virginia was safe within her sister's care. But he'd been very careful since then. He knew Raphaela's intentions and he had a feeling that she would one day be very important to the unborn cub.

- - - - - - - - - -

Carpathian and Kobza were waiting for Wolf at the edge of the woods. When he appeared, they grunted at each other and bounded off, their desire for the hunt greater than their desire for talk. The frosty air excited their noses, making every scent tangier.

Kobza panted as he ran. When his four feet hit the ground all the air flew out of his lungs. Then as he pushed off, he gasped and the process would be repeated. Carpathian and Wolf ran silently on either side of him, their eyes and ears intent on everything. They ignored the gasps Kobza was making, considering it only the inexperience of youth. When they finally scented a deer, though, they looked at him sternly. As they moved forward to find their prey, their eyes became yellow with excitement.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rose also felt a desire to be outside. But her mind was too full to hunt. Like Wolf, she left Wendell in their bed, satisfied and snoring. Their room in the hunting lodge looked as if it had been the center of a mighty battle in which both participants had been the victor.

Rose was wearing a new suit of leather, with a wool coat thrown over it. She walked out into the woods and found an open patch with a great rock near the edge, perfect for sitting and staring at the sky. All around her the newly fallen snow glowed with a blue light.

"Moon Goddess," she prayed. "It's Rose. I've come to thank you for the wonderful gift you've given me. Let me be a good wife to my husband, give us children, and teach me how to care for my subjects as a queen should. Let me be worthy of this great responsibility you have given me."

From her throne on high, the Moon Goddess sparkled back. Rose listened, not feeling the cold radiating through her leather pants for quite some time. When it seemed the moon had nothing left to say, Rose said good night and returned to the warmth of her husband's bed, nudging him gently to get him to turn over and end his silly snoring.

- - - - - - - - - -

While Rose prayed, Matilde sat on the top steps at the front of Wendell's castle. Her crystal ball was on the step below her in the center of a dark gray shawl. She had told the guards they could warm themselves for a while and that she would keep a lookout instead. Everything was quiet, except for the occasional wolf call from the woods beyond. Matilde wondered if Wolf was out there too. At one point she noted three separate wolf voices raised in joyful triumph over what she assumed was a successful hunt.

So intent was the Ice Fairy that she didn't hear Tony come out at first. He looked at her for a moment without saying anything. Then he sat down next to her, his large feet crunching on the sanded stairs.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten to," he said.

"I'm just giving my crystal ball a moon airing. The full moon is very beneficial to magic things, you know. Especially when it's cold. The cold cleanses, the snow purifies, and the moon gives power."

"I see. And does your crystal enjoy the snow and cold?" Tony asked, half in jest.

"I don't know. I don't know how much she feels in her present state."

"She?" Tony's brown eyes blinked. "You're not going to tell me that that's another member of your family."

Matilde laughed. "No. That kind of thing doesn't happen very often. However, the crystal is invested with a very old spirit. I'm afraid I don't know anything about her, except that it's a her and that she once had another form. I'm not even sure my mother knew anything about her. And they were together for nine hundred years."

"Good friends were they?" Tony said dryly.

"In a manner of speaking."

"You people are very strange, what with friends and relatives becoming inanimate objects. But don't tell Raphaela I said that. I want her to think I'm a good step-father."

"She will."

"You know, it's very disconcerting sometimes when I wake up and find you're not there."

"I told you, fairies don't need much sleep."

"Yes." Tony took her hand and cradled it in his lap in both of his. "But sometimes the bed gets very cold. I start worrying that you might not come back."

"Like Christine."

"Maybe that's a part of it. The difference is I can usually find you in some part of the castle reading a book or going over Council business in Wendell's office. But it makes me want something more permanent."

"And?"

"And with Wendell and Rose married now, there's no reason for us to wait anymore. I want you to make an honest man out of me."

Matilde laughed and let her head fall to his shoulder.

"So what do you say?"

"Whenever you like."

"How about as soon as Rose and Wendell get back?"

"All right. But you're going to have to explain to Rupert that we want a simple wedding."

Tony's brown eyes sparkled. "I think I know how. I'll ask him to be best man. And before he floats down off the ceiling, I'll explain the rest."

"You think making him best man will be enough of a bribe?"

"Well, it's not a bribe really. I want him to stand up for me. We're old army buddies. Who are you going to get as maid of honor?"

"I think I've settled on Leaf Fall. She and I are on much better terms now and I like the idea of her being part of our little family. It would make Centaurea happy. Besides, if Rupert gets out of line and tries to make the wedding too big, Leaf Fall will be happy to pull him back into line. They'll sort of balance each other out."

Tony leaned down and kissed her. "You know…" he said in a low voice, "it's getting chilly out here. What say we let the guards get back to their duty and you and I can sneak upstairs and warm up the bed a little?"

Matilde smiled. "Just let me collect the crystal."

- - - - - - - - - -

On Hunter's Island, Mazarin the wizard was sitting on the floor of his room in a muddle of purple robes in front of a small makeshift altar. On it were his three most prized possessions, with the fourth close at hand. The first item was the amulet of jet that had helped bring him back from his prison dimension. It had been given to him by his mother when he was a child. The second item was a small dragon tooth from his pet dragon. He had found Baby as a hatchling and she had been his only comfort while he was held prisoner. The final item was a swatch of clothing, a piece of gray canvas torn from a cape that his father had once worn. His cane with the onyx top was lying on the floor next to him. It was his fourth most important possession.

Mazarin touched each of the items on his altar and examined them carefully in the light of the old candle that the trolls had found for him. All the other light they were using in the castle was magical. But for his altar Mazarin had insisted on real fire.

As he held the cool piece of jet, he remembered his fairy mother. She had been a beautiful Ice Maiden with beige blond hair. He remembered how radiant she looked in her shining armor. She was a stunning symbol of strength and bravery. He remembered when he was little how he would cry whenever she had to leave to go into battle. She gave him the jet amulet to remember her by. "Touch it," she had said, "and I will be with you in spirit." Not long after she had been lost in a battle with the Satyrs and Hsigo that Matilde's mother Sabirah had been trying to control. One of the Hsigo had charged down on her from the sky and killed her. Mazarin rubbed the smooth black surface of the fossilized wood and wondered if things would have been different if she hadn't died.

He put down the jet amulet and picked up the swatch of gray cloth. After Mazarin's mother died, his father had raised him alone. His father had been an ordinary human man, with no intelligence or talent of any kind, only a weak flabby face with dark hair thrusting up around it. From what Mazarin saw, he was also without dignity or pride, for he was always prostrating himself like a slave in front of Matilde's mother. Sabirah had never demanded this from him, but he did it all the same. Mazarin's father saw himself as a beggar, living on the edge Sabirah's court as a perpetual dependent. Mazarin grew up ashamed of him, wondering what his mother the proud warrior had ever seen in him. Mazarin ripped this piece from his father's cloak when he was about to buried to remind himself not to be anyone's servant. Instead, he was to be the master.

And Baby? Mazarin fingered the little dragon's tooth that had been lost when Baby had been a hatchling. She was probably the only thing he'd ever loved unselfishly. She'd been so sweetly dependent on him while she was growing up. She was immense now, a great green dragon with purple wings and golden horns on her head. She was a fierce hunter too, afraid of nothing. But when he scratched her chin, she would make a contented gurgling noise in her throat. She was a descendant of the last dragons of Dragon Mountain, sent to that other dimension by Matilde's mother, so very long ago. He assumed Matilde had imprisoned him in that dimension because it was already known to be uninhabited except by animals and plants.

And Matilde? Thoughts of her made Mazarin reach for his onyx topped cane. It was a brown and cream colored stone, purchased by him when he was a young man, almost five hundred years before. Onyx is supposed to stunt the sexual appetite. Mazarin had gotten it so that his hunger for Matilde would leave him. It had, despite what Zafira might suspect. He kept the stone close at hand now so that he would never again feel so tied to anyone. Of course that was relatively easy to do with Zafira as a consort. She had served as an amiable servant, carrying out his orders during The Magic War and his imprisonment. She was eminently useful. But she habitually showed him that same servile expression that his father used while prostrating himself before those he considered his betters. Zafira was not the strong warrior in her own right that his mother had been, and Matilde still was. Zafira was a servant. Only slightly better than the trolls. He could never be serious about a servant. They were a tool and nothing more.

While he was still thinking of these things, Zafira came in. She was dressed in a diaphanous gown of powder blue, her reddish brown hair cascading down her back and dividing over her delicate wings. She stood for a moment, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. When he did not, she spoke. "Master?" she asked softly. "Mazarin?"

"What is it?" he asked without looking up.

"I've spoken to our members by mirror as you asked. They are all in place. The group near the Northern Sea has found three goblins that they think can be bribed to dive and search for the traveling mirror."

"Good," Mazarin said, still not looking up. "With my mirror broken in Kissing Town, and the second in the hands of Snow White's grandson, it's the only one we can access without creating suspicion."

"There is a full moon tonight," Zafira said, coming into the room. As she passed him, she let the hem of her gown float near his face. She had scented it with her favorite perfume, lily of the valley. "I thought we might have some time together."

Mazarin didn't answer. If he'd caught the scent of her perfume, he gave no hint of it. Instead, he put down his cane and picked up the swatch of gray cloth again.

Zafira turned back the covers on the heavy bed near the window. The trolls had brought the linens from a room on the second floor. The comforter had once been a deep burgundy, but it was seriously faded now. The sheets were the color of ancient papyrus, aged into a wonderful softness. Zafira ran her hand over the pillow. Mazarin had been away a long time. She had been hoping that their reuniting would be full of passion. But it hadn't turned out that way. He hadn't so much as touched her or even really looked at her since he'd been back. True, he had never been the most attentive of lovers. Still, there had been some spark between them before he'd left. "Mazarin?" she asked. "Why don't you come to bed?"

"Not now. I have things to think about."

"Please?" She floated to his side and ran her hand gently through his long brown and gray hair. "It's been so long," she whispered. She reached for his onyx topped cane, knowing the questionable power of the stone on its tip. She thought maybe if she at least put it out of his reach.

"No!" he said, pulling the cane back. They each had an end of it now. "I said I have things to think about. Now leave me!"

"But…"

"LEAVE ME!" he roared, his eyes flashing red.

Zafira let go of the cane. Mazarin put it on his lap and continued examining the little collection of items on his altar as if he had never spoken to her, as if she had never come into the room. There was nothing for Zafira to do but leave.

The old hunting lodge was very quiet and cold. Since fairy fire and fairy lights had freed the trolls from worrying about firewood, they often went out at night to hunt. Zafira hadn't heard or seen anything of them since they'd served dinner hours before. That was fine. Neither she nor Mazarin could stand the sight of the horrid creatures. So low and disgusting were they.

As Zafira climbed into her lonely bed, she noticed that dark clouds had moved in to cover the glow of the moon. There had to be something she could do about the negative magic of Mazarin's cane. She would never be able to get it away from him. But perhaps she could counteract the spell with another talisman, one that would make him love her as he had once loved Matilde so long ago.

And then it came to her…Cinderella's shoes. They were fabled to have a love spell in them. Perhaps after Mazarin cast his curse on the Nine Kingdoms, she could steal the shoes. No one would care or even notice by then. They would all be too busy panicking. Once she put the shoes on, Mazarin would love her. She was sure of it. True, the shoes only served one person at a time. But once Cinderella became incapacitated, the shoes would be free to go to a new owner wouldn't they? Why shouldn't she be the one to wield them and enjoy their blessing?


	13. Chapter 13 Sisters and Allies

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**Sisters and Allies**

"Is that what you're wearing?" Leaf Fall asked Virginia. They were supposed to be going to the Seventh Kingdom that day for a pre-Council meeting. Leaf was planning to show Virginia around her Moss Castle and brief her on some important matters. But when Virginia met her in Wendell's study, Leaf hesitated. "Didn't you wear that yesterday?"

Virginia looked down at the dark lavender dress that she'd been wearing daily since Rose and Wendell were married. It was still the loosest dress that she owned, but it was getting tighter by the day. "Rupert has been at me to get some new clothes," she said.

That was an understatement. The day before he'd actually thrown himself to the floor and begged her to let him get her some new things. It had caused quite a scene because it had happened right after dinner outside the dining room.

"You should let him do it…Today." Leaf stepped decidedly to the bell cord, where it hung next to Wendell's bookcases. "You'll need at least ten new dresses as soon as possible."

"Ten?" Virginia was horrified.

"Yes. You will probably gain more weight before your pregnancy is over. And you'll be spending more of your time in the Seventh Kingdom and with the Council."

"Won't everyone think I'm self-centered if I wear a lot of different clothes?"

"Only if you wear fussy ones covered with gold and gems."

"But they'll think all I care about is clothes."

Leaf Fall folded her hands primly in front of herself and considered Virginia for a moment. She knew there was a subtext somewhere, but what was it? She was trying to think how best to answer when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Leaf called.

"Your Majesty?" Herbert the perfect butler said, bowing to Leaf.

"Send for Queen Matilde and Lord Rupert at once," Leaf said.

"Yes, your Majesty," Herbert replied and bowed out of the room.

"I really don't understand where you're getting all this from," Leaf said, turning back to Virginia.

"It's just that I don't like to dress up all the time."

Leaf nodded. "You're down to earth. I admire that. Before The Giant War Queen Red Riding Hood III was overly involved with clothing. People took her less seriously because of it. But you seem to be stuck on the other side of the spectrum. Clothes are not only a covering against the weather or a fashion statement. In certain situations they are also a mark of respect. When you attend the Council you will be representing both me and the Seventh Kingdom. The proper style of dress will show respect for all involved." Leaf Fall stood as tall as her slight form would allow. "You are not just Virginia Lewis anymore. You are a princess of the House of Red. And when Matilde marries your father, you and I will become step-sisters. I intend to introduce you to the Council as my sister. It will further legitimize your position as my Second."

This was something Virginia had not expected. She realized the honor Leaf Fall was showing her. She was very much the proper elf and Virginia had a feeling that very few people were allowed into her inner circle. "Leaf, I…" she began weakly.

The elf waved her words away. She was not the emotional type and didn't want Virginia to gush over this. Especially with Rupert and Matilde expected any minute. "Now as your older sister, you must allow me to lead you on all issues of protocol."

"I…Yes, of course."

"Good, we are agreed then."

It was at that point that Matilde burst into the room with Rupert following right behind.

"What's wrong?" Matilde demanded, looking every bit like a queen ready to take command. "I thought you two would be in the Seventh Kingdom by now." She assumed something serious had caused their delay. Since Virginia was pregnant, her first fears were for the baby.

"Virginia hasn't had much time to upgrade her wardrobe because of her honeymoon trip and the wedding," Leaf said. "Lord Rupert, I wonder if you could outfit Princess Virginia with say ten dresses, suitable to wear before the Council."

Rupert gasped. This was like a dream come true for him. He had literally begun having nightmares about seeing Virginia dressed in Cinderella-style rags. He threw out his arms in glorious exaltation. "Oh, thank you!" he said with every fiber of his being. "I know just what to do."

Matilde smiled with relief. She'd been thinking of talking to Virginia about her dress situation, but had been fearful that she would come across as a disapproving step-mother. From the look on Virginia's face, Leaf had done an exemplary job of handling the situation. Much better than she would have done, Matilde thought. When people disagreed with her, she tended to push at them or make cutting remarks. She had a feeling that wouldn't work well with Virginia.

"Please use as much green as possible," Leaf Fall said.

"But your Majesty, she looks much better in blue," Rupert said, pushing out his lower lip in a semi-pout. "It's her blue eyes you see."

"Yes, yes. But green is the color of the Seventh Kingdom and she will be representing that land."

"Perhaps we could compromise," Matilde said, stepping in-between them. "You could make up dresses that combine both colors."

"Yes! That's it!" Rupert exclaimed, almost leaping into the air. "I know exactly what you mean. "Dark blues and greens of just the right shades, commingling to reflect the changing emotions of the sea."

"Something like that," Matilde said, trying not to laugh.

"I suppose that will be all right," Leaf said.

"I will go at once and get everything started," Rupert said, starting for the door. In a moment he was gone.

"And why did you ask for me?" Matilde asked. "I have no talents as a seamstress."

"Because we need to travel to my castle today in preparation for tomorrow's Council meeting," Leaf said. "I can't put it off. Would you be so kind as to adjust her outfit."

"Magically you mean? Of course." Matilde reached out her hand to Virginia. "May I borrow my cane for a moment?"

"Oh, yes."

Matilde took the white cane and waved it in front of Virginia. Immediately the lavender dress she was wearing started to glow and sparkle. The material changed to something soft and flowing. Then it changed color into a sweeping pattern of dark blues and forest greens.

"It's lovely," Virginia said. "I feel just like Cinderella."

"It's good to remember that," Matilde said. "As with Cindy, this magic will only last till midnight." She handed the cane back to Virginia. "But if you can't get home before that and need the dress to stay as it is, you can wave the cane in front of yourself and the magic will continue till the next midnight. Certain spells have time limits, you know."

"Your cane can do that?" Leaf asked. "It can cast a spell like that at the command of someone who doesn't possess magic?"

"My cane can do many things," Matilde said. "It can even steer Virginia home if she uses traveling dust."

"Really?" This was a piece of good news for Leaf. She had promised to see that Virginia was escorted home every night as she was sure the mother-to-be would prefer to see her husband and sleep in her own bed. A well rested Second was more valuable than a homesick one. "This means I won't have to assign someone to take her back and forth between my castle and here? She can travel on her own?"

"Yes. You just have to give her a supply of traveling dust. The cane will bring her either here or to your castle." Matilde waved her hand in the direction of the cane as if she were giving it a magical command. But of course it was just for show. She knew Raphaela could hear them and would handle everything.

"Hmm," Leaf said appreciatively. "I never realized it had so much power. Or such innate reasoning."

"It is very old," Matilde said, as if that explained everything.

- - - - - - - - - -

Clayface the goblin walked along the beach of the North Sea, looking for interesting driftwood to carve. He had traveled to this quiet spot after the escape from Snow White Memorial Prison because he knew he would be free from busybodies. Busybodies made him nervous. And when he got nervous he tended to carve things he shouldn't.

After leaving Acorn the dwarf and Tony Lewis, he had headed off down the river, swimming for some distance and sleeping on a deserted beach when night hit. His first stroke of luck came in finding the invisibility shoes that Wolf had thrown away. They washed up on the shore, still together because they were magnetically aligned to each other. Clayface recognized them immediately as the property of Relish the troll king. They had been in the troll's family for a couple of generations and most people knew their story.

At first Clayface was afraid Relish would come looking for them, but then he heard the troll king was dead. Clayface decided the shoes were just what he needed to keep him hidden from those who might try and put him back in prison. They were also useful when he wanted to steal things. Before long he became fully addicted to them, taking them off only when they needed to be recharged.

On this particular day, Clayface had been traveling the beach in his invisibility shoes when he came upon a strange group. The most noticeable was a male fairy with golden blond hair, iridescent wings, and an angry face. Immediately to his right was an old witch leaning on a staff. Her wrinkled face showed no emotion, but from the way she and the fairy were standing, Clayface guessed they were compatriots of some kind. In front of them was a group of three goblins, dripping wet from the sea. They seemed very unhappy about something.

Clayface's first guess was that the fairy and the witch had hired the goblins to go diving for them. Since goblins liked water and could swim to great depths, they were often hired to retrieve valuables from shipwrecks. Clayface wondered if there might be something for him to steal. There wasn't any sign of treasure yet, but there might be if he waited around. The shoes could extend their invisibility to anything he held. As long as he didn't steal anything too big, he could get far away before they ran out of energy. There was a large sand dune not far down the beach that could act as a shelter in case he needed to recharge the shoes.

Thinking there might be an opportunity here, Clayface rubbed the green bumps on his face and stepped closer.

The leader of the diving goblins was complaining that the price they had been guaranteed was too low. "We have to go very deep," the head goblin said, shaking his long green flecked hair. "There are many caverns down there. I thought maybe we'd see it shining. But no. We dived all morning. Saw nothing. Maybe it's covered in sea weed. At this rate it may take us several days to find it. We thought it would take only one. You must pay us the same for each day of work."

"You agreed on that price," the young male fairy said, clapping his wings angrily behind him. "There was no discussion about how long it would take. You're trying to extort money from us. How do we know you haven't found it already?"

"Goblins don't lie," the head goblin said. The other soggy goblins around him nodded vigorously in agreement.

The witch and fairy couldn't really argue the point. Goblins enjoyed telling people the truth and some were clairvoyant. They used the truth as a weapon. Sometimes they used it as a bargaining chip. And most times it irritated the other people in the Nine Kingdoms because they didn't want to hear the truth. It was even said that the little boy who had blurted out the truth about the First Naked Emperor's suit of invisible clothes was part-goblin. But that was only rumor.

Clayface nodded invisibly with the other goblins. Telling the truth had gotten him into trouble more than once. And his carvings sometimes had truth in them that no one wanted to see. Clayface was a clairvoyant goblin. The only trouble was, his ability to see the future was limited to his carvings. When he took up a medium and began carving, he never knew what the outcome of it would be. He just followed where his instincts led.

The old witch moved in front of the fairy, her cane digging deeply and awkwardly into the sand. "I can watch you through magic," she said. "If you try and cheat us, I will know."

The goblin sneered at her. "If you're so powerful, how come you don't tell us exactly where to look?"

"Because all I can see is the rise and fall of the sea and the caverns. But I know it's directly North of this beach. I told you the mirror was standing upright. You won't see it shine from above. It's inside a cavern."

"There are thousands of caverns down there," the goblin said in disgust. And the other two goblins grunted in agreement behind him.

"That's why we hired you," the witch said. "Your people are gifted divers. We knew you could do the job."

"We need more goblins. We could cover the area faster."

"No!" the male fairy insisted, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. He was ready to slay the whole filthy lot of them.

"We'll pay you what you ask," the old witch said. "But not till the job is done. You can hire more goblins if you like, but I don't understand why you want to share the pay? You'll end up getting less."

The two helper goblins grunted. "Don't want to share," they said.  
"Already started this. Might as well finish."

"All right," the leader of the goblins said. "We will continue diving. For more money as agreed." And the three returned to the sea.

As soon as they'd disappeared under the waves, the old witch said, "Don't be so impatient. The Master doesn't need the mirror today."

"Perhaps not. It's just that these goblins are so insolent."

"Don't let them bother you. After they find the mirror for us, we'll practice the spell on them and toss them into the sea to die."

The male fairy laughed, the tightness in his face relaxing. "Yes. You're right. That will be very satisfying."

Clayface pulled back and went to the large sand dune further down the beach. It was a good spot to recharge his shoes and think. What kind of mirror could be so important that they would kill for it, he wondered. Was there any point to him staying? If they were only looking for one object, he'd have a hard time stealing it without being noticed, especially if it turned out to be a very large mirror. Whatever spell that witch was talking about using on the other goblins could just as easily be used on him.

While he was thinking these things he saw another creature step out of the sea further down the beach, well out of the sight of the fairy and the witch. It was a sea unicorn with a glowing silver horn in the center of its head and a white body. Clayface had heard of these creatures but had never seen one before. They had the power to change form from that of a sea animal with the elongated tail of a fish to that of a four legged one with hooves. This sea unicorn seemed to be on a mission of some kind. It left the waves and headed toward the mountains beyond with a serious minded gallop.

Where is it going, Clayface wondered. And did it have some connection to what the goblins were looking for?

It seemed to him that he should begin a carving. It was the only way to find out.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Felicity came in from her archery practice she found her brother Barron pacing in the main hall. He looked even thinner than usual and his dark eyes seemed sunken into his pale face. The first thing she thought was that he was angry with her for staying out so long. She loved sports where her brother did not. She enjoyed riding and archery and hunting, learning all of them from their father at an early age. Barron may have carried the Dragon-Slayer name, but he was not the athletic type. He considered himself more of a thinking man. And lately all of his thinking had been centered on ways to get Wendell off the throne.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Felicity panted, swinging her mud splattered skirts so her brother wouldn't notice them too readily. He overlooked her interest in sports as long as she kept a strict adherence to certain other things. The most important was that she look and act like an heir to the throne at all times. "Have I kept dinner waiting?"

"No," Barron said, sweeping to a stop in the center of the room. "I am just frustrated. As you know, I've been trying to hire mercenaries to demonstrate against Wendell and his she-wolf. But everyone I've asked has declined. They all blame it on the recent war, saying there aren't enough men at present to do it."

"Perhaps they're afraid Wendell will imprison them or submit them to torture."

"Nonsense," Barron said, shaking his large head. "Wendell doesn't have the strength of character to do such things."

"What will you do now? Wendell will miss tomorrow's Council meeting because he's still on his honeymoon. But there's another one within the month. I'm sure Wendell will move to try and eliminate us from the line of succession."

"We need to show him and the Council that naming his animal wife as heir to the throne and removing us will create unrest in the Fourth Kingdom."

"There's not much time."

A black clad butler with a long face stepped into the room. "Dinner is served," he announced blandly.

"Fine, fine," Barron said with an impatient wave.

Felicity let her brother lead the way through the chilly stone hallways of their mansion into the candle lit diningroom. It was a formal room with a long formal table. Places were set at each end with a butler standing ready at each station to serve. In the center was a candelabra surrounded by varying decoration depending on the season. Since the two siblings sat far apart, there was little conversation between them. This was intentional. Barron didn't feel much desire to converse with his sister, except when he was in the mood to give a speech. He considered her to be his mental inferior and preferred to be alone with his thoughts. Of course Felicity did not complain.

They were about halfway through their meal when the butler in black returned. "Your Grace, there is someone here to see you."

"Not now, I'm dining," Barron said abruptly.

"But, your Grace, the visitor says it is in reference to the men you've been trying to hire. He says he can help you."

"What! Why didn't you say so! Perhaps one of the men I talked to has reconsidered." Barron hastily wiped his face with his napkin and strode hopefully from the hall.

Felicity took the interruption as an opportunity to change her skirt. After which, she joined her brother and their guest in the main hall. The visitor was a tall young man with very erect posture. His brown hair was clipped closely like Barron's and he had a thin mustache. He bowed as soon as Felicity entered the room.

"Ah," Barron said, rising to his feet. "This is my sister, Lady Felicity."

The visitor bowed again.

"Felicity, this is Victor. From the Fifth Kingdom."

"Are you from King Cole, then?" Felicity asked, thinking perhaps that Cole had decided to throw his support in their direction.

"No. I am not. I represent…other factions in the country."

"Indeed?"

"I was just telling your brother the Duke, that there are those within the Fifth Kingdom who are not happy about the pro-wolf proclamations. They feel these proclamations will destroy everything that we hold dear. We are looking to overthrow them and turn people to our way of thinking. The Fourth Kingdom has gone soft. You and the Duke are the only real hope it has to return to its former glory. I heard you were looking for people to help you turn public opinion against Wendell. We are succeeding in just such a battle in my kingdom. And we would be willing to help you do the same here."

"I have agreed to his proposal," Barron said to his sister.

"And I look forward to serving you." Victor bowed deeply to Barron. "I must get back to my own kingdom now to make preparations. But within a few days things will be under way."

"Shall I send you payment?"

"No," Victor said. "Your packet might be intercepted. I will come here myself and we will finalize the arrangements."

"Good."

And so the deal was struck. With his work completed, Victor gave the Duke and his sister another low bow and galloped into the night.

- - - - - - - - - -

"It was just wonderful!" Virginia said to Wolf, her eyes sparkling. She tackled him with so much energy she nearly knocked him down.

Wolf hadn't seen Virginia feel so powerful and "under the influence" since the time she'd been addicted to Relish's invisibility shoes. He'd been a little worried about her traveling to the Seventh Kingdom, afraid she would feel strange in the Moss Castle of Queen Leaf Fall and that her morning sickness might become so difficult that even Matilde's cane wouldn't cure it. He was also afraid that traveling back magically on her own would lead her to end up somewhere else accidentally. Matilde had assured him that she would be safe, but magic things like the cane had a way of backfiring. He would have felt better about it if she'd been traveling with a magical personage of some sort, someone who could have handled things if they went wrong. Yet, here was his creamy dreamy girl looking more excited than he'd seen her in a long time.

"You should have seen Leaf Fall's Moss Castle," Virginia ran on. "It's amazing! It's in the center of the forest, with a woodland creek running under it. It gets its name because its wood walls are entirely encased in thick green moss. The place feels a little damp, but it's magnificent!"

"I've heard about it," Wolf said. "In the spring it's supposed to be especially beautiful because it's covered with wildflowers."

"Really? I can't wait to see that! There were some other people there, early arrivers for tomorrow's Council meeting…King Cole, Red Riding Hood III, and Cinderella's Chancellor. I got to sit in on their initial meeting. Leaf is already telling everyone that I'm her sister."

"Her sister?" Wolf said. "That's quite an honor." Again he worried over how fast everything was happening. But it was obvious that Virginia had inherited her mother's ability to lead. It made her feel strong, like a wolf in the throes of moon madness.

"Even Woodbine accepted me…almost as if I was on his level. Can you believe it? I know he seems like a bag of wind, but Leaf says he keeps the place running when she's away. At least if it's not for too long and there aren't any big disasters. Whenever something really bad happens, Woodbine tends to hide in a water fall."

"I've heard that."

"But it is wonderful! Everything's so busy and exciting. There are so many things to learn, so many people to meet. You know, for the first time I really felt like a princess."

Wolf was glad for her. He didn't feel like a prince yet. He wondered if he ever would. "You've got a new dress on," he said, pointing to her green and blue gown. "Rupert left you a couple more. He said he'll have the rest by the end of the week, even if he has to work the seamstresses night and day."

Virginia did a twirl to show off her gown. "Do you like it? It's lovely, isn't it? It's a shame it only lasts till midnight."

"Midnight?"

"Didn't Matilde tell you? She changed my old dress into a new one, but only until midnight."

"You're not just a princess, you're a magical one. All you need now is the glass shoes to go with it."

"Oh, I don't need those! I'm already floating on air." Virginia whirled into Wolf's arms again. "Why weren't you up in our room? I traveled there first." She unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt and stroked his chest. "I thought I might surprise you…in bed."

"I didn't know where you might pop in. I thought the ballroom might be best the place to wait, because it's the biggest."

"Were you worried about me?"

"Maybe. You've never been to the Seventh Kingdom. And the last time you used traveling dust without extra help, you ended up a couple hundred years in the past."

Virginia patted her husband's chest reassuringly. "The cane knew where to go," she said. "Matilde gave it a touch of magic before we left."

"Yes. I'm sure Matilde knows what she's doing. But, I was still a bit worried. It's getting late."

"I'm sorry. If we were back home in New York, I could have called you by cell phone. But then I probably would have also gotten caught in traffic. This way I got home much faster. It's not even midnight yet."

"I know. I just expected you earlier."

"I got caught up I guess."

Yes, Wolf said to himself. She'd gotten caught up in her destiny. He'd always known she was made for something great. Nothing less could have led someone like Snow White to take such special notice of her. "Well, you're home now."

"And I'm ready to turn in. I thought maybe we could…um." She rubbed against him suggestively.

Wolf closed his eyes and growled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. "You don't have to ask me twice. Shall I count off and give you a head start?"

"No. I'll race you."

Wolf answered with another growl and the two of them ran off like two cubs playing tag.

Wolf took the lead as they got to their room, but he let Virginia catch him and subsequently ravish him. Her new job as Second looked better to him all the time. He slept contentedly through the night. But at some point, Virginia began tossing and turning.

Raphaela floated to her side and slipped under her hand to calm her. Once again Virginia found herself in the center of a purple mist, seated before a reflecting pool with a short wall of brick all around her. Raphaela's white vine grew out of the mist and sprouted up till it was the height of a woman. Virginia could sense her presence within it.

"Little Sister, you are restless," Raphaela said. "Perhaps it will help if you speak to your mother. I know you have questions."

Christine stepped out of the mist dressed in a satin gown. She was able to move her hand through the area above the wall, but she could not pass through the wall itself.

"She will speak to you now," Raphaela said. "But you cannot touch her."

"Mother?" Virginia asked, her deep blue eyes never leaving the reflecting pool in front of her. "Why did you like clothes so much?"

"Clothes?"

"You always had these expensive clothes and you always loved them so much. Why were they so important?"

"You remember that?" Christine asked. She hadn't been so involved with clothes since she'd come to the Nine Kingdoms. She'd simply been too busy learning magic and eliminating enemies. "That was part of my innocence I think."

"Innocence?"

Christine sat down upon the brick wall. "I was trying to please your grandmother. She wanted me to be special. To outdo everyone in the world. I tried to be what she wanted. I knew she needed me to make up for what happened with your grandfather."

"Grandfather?"

"What did your grandmother tell you about me?"

"Oh, she adored you. Still does. She wouldn't believe me when I told her you'd died. I haven't gone back to visit her since." Tears began gathering in Virginia's eyes. "It was hard talking about you. And she hates Wolf."

"I know she can be very opinionated."

"Well…Wolf did try to eat her."

"What?"

"He didn't, of course. But it looked like he was going to. She was pretty upset about it."

"Mmm. Well, I wouldn't worry about that. She forgets easily. All you have to do is tell her that Wolf is a prince and that marrying him has made you a princess and she'll come around very fast."

"You think?" Virginia looked up at her mother. "She said you were wonderful. That you were meant for something better. That marrying Dad was what ruined you."

"That's funny. It was her idea that I marry your father."

"What?"

"He was well-to-do when I met him. Strong and handsome and very rich. It wasn't until after he'd lost his money that your grandmother started disliking him."

"She said that after I was born you changed."

"And what did she tell you about your grandfather?"

Virginia looked away again. "She said he was some kind of big game hunter, away on lots of safaris to Africa and South America. But I know that's not true."

"Well…your grandfather was away a lot. Most of the time, actually. He was in a mental hospital. Your grandmother is a bit eccentric herself, so she didn't notice his problem until after they'd been married a while…after I'd been born. I'm afraid that's where I got my problems from. It was a weakness that Snow White's stepmother used to control me."

"It happened just after I was born, right?"

"Yes. But it wasn't because of you. It was because of my age. Your grandfather began showing problems at that same time in his life."

"How do I know it won't happen to me?" Virginia asked.

"Raphaela has promised me that it won't."

"Raphaela?"

"The spirit that brings us together like this."

"How does she know?"

"Through five hundred years of healing," Raphaela answered. "It doesn't mean you won't have trouble. But you don't have your mother and grandfather's affliction."

Virginia wasn't sure if she believed her. Raphaela was a cane…a magical one perhaps, but a cane nevertheless. Virginia was still very much afraid that after the birth of her child she would begin to go mad like her mother. Would she try and hurt her child, try to drown him in a bath tub like her mother had? Or would she maybe try to take over the Fourth or Seventh Kingdoms? "Mother…when you were queen, did you enjoy it?"

"Enjoy it?" That was a question Christine hadn't expected. "I'd have to say more that I was driven. Driven by Isabella's voice in my head urging me to take control, to kill. I never enjoyed it the way you mean."

"I do."

"What?"

"I feel complete working with Leaf Fall."

"Do you? Well, I never felt that. I must have had some ability to lead, or Isabella would never have chosen me. But I never felt as you do. I suspect Snow White saw your potential and knew you would be needed here. Your father was once a leader, remember?"

"He is again. It's a little confusing for me at times. But he's become a lord and a war hero."

"So you take after him."

"If only I wasn't so afraid."

"It's true. Believe me. You are NOT me."

- - - - - - - - - -

It took a full day and night of riding for Victor to return to the castle of King Cole. As he rode across the drawbridge with his tired horse the guards gave him a nod. He was one of them, a palace guard somewhere in the mid-ranks. He was quiet and very attentive to his duty. He had no wife or family and no outside friends. And when there was a message to be delivered at some distance, he always volunteered. He said he enjoyed the night air and the traveling. But others said he enjoyed the extra pay. And still others wondered if maybe he didn't have a secret girlfriend that he visited on the way. Both hypotheses were wrong. To put it plainly, Victor was ambitious. And he was more ambitious than a palace guard ought to be. Unlike many of his comrades in arms, he had no dreams of becoming a Captain or even a General. He wanted to be Chancellor.

Unfortunately, the Chancellors of the Nine Kingdoms were always chosen from the aristocracy. Sometimes the job ran in families just as the job of king or queen did. It was that way in the Fifth Kingdom as well. Gavrilo had inherited his job as Chancellor from his father. His father had received it as a gift for special services to the crown. And his grandfather had received the aristocratic title that had made the climb possible, also for a special service. During the last almost two hundred years, Gavrilo's family had moved steadily forward in influence, even as their seeming difficulties with arthritis appeared to slow down their physical movement. Gavrilo intended to continue pushing his family's interests forward. And he found ambitious men like Victor to be beneficial tools.

As soon as the young palace guard settled his horse in the stable, he made his way into the sleeping castle. His boots made a confident sound against the stone steps as he marched toward the high back turret that Gavrilo called home. When Victor marched into the outer sitting room of the Chancellor's private chambers he found him awake and looking out the window into the darkness. Victor had never surprised the Chancellor with his entrance. He knew he couldn't have heard him come in from the other side of the castle. His lonely turret faced the mountains and deserts in the west beyond the Fifth Kingdom. No one ever traveled that way because there was nothing beyond it, nothing but the magic barrier that was the end of the Nine Kingdoms.

"You've returned," Gavrilo said without turning around.

"I knew you would want to hear," Victor said. "So I rode hard."

"Have they agreed?"

"Yes."

"Good." Gavrilo scuffed and flapped his way across the floor, leaning heavily on his cane. It was as if his boots were fighting his movements. He came to a stop before the fireplace and seemed to consider its orange flames. "You will gather together the men we need first thing tomorrow. I will tell you where to send them in the Fourth Kingdom just before you go. We will hit the most vulnerable spots first, places that have suffered recent turmoil. They will be less likely to fight our mercenaries."

"Do you think Barron will be able to overthrow Wendell with our help?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Gavrilo said, his full head of hair casting shadows over his face. "I care only about removing Cole from the throne. Upheaval in the Fourth Kingdom will help us, especially if they are following the same cause."

"It will be done," Victor said, with a bow.

"Yes. And afterwards, you will serve as my Chancellor."

Victor almost smiled at the thought, but held himself back. Instead, he bowed again and took his leave.

Gavrilo thought Victor was very simplistic. He only wanted to be Chancellor and hadn't thought past that. Meanwhile, the present Chancellor of the Fifth Kingdom had more complicated plans, far beyond any that Victor could have dreamed of. Gaining the throne of the Fifth Kingdom was only the first step.


	14. Chapter 14 Nephew

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**Nephew**

When the royal carriage arrived to pick up Rose and Wendell at the end of their honeymoon, it came with a small retinue of guards as a precaution. The Chancellor had sent word that there had been a couple of anti-wolf demonstrations within the kingdom, first in Little Lamb Village and then in Bean Town. The protests seemed to rise up out of nowhere, caused by unknown leaders who disappeared by the time the local constabularies had been called out.

The Peeps in Little Lamb Village were questioned closely. Wilfred Peep had already been hung for the murder of his granddaughter. But since much of the Peep family had been involved in diverting the magic waters of the town well, many believed they had facilitated this latest trouble also. Once again Little Lamb Village was dominated by suspicion, with everyone glaring at everyone else.

As for Bean Town, people there were just tired. They had been caught up in the changing battle lines of the Giant War and attacked by Relish's army while Wendell was a dog. They'd had enough. This recent display of hostility brought back the feelings of hopelessness they had bravely pushed aside just before the royal wedding. They feared there would be a new war of some kind. Some talked about abandoning the town altogether and letting the beanstalks take over.

Wendell's Chancellor sent human soldiers to both places to maintain order. He was afraid that sending wolf troops would cause more trouble. Things appeared to be under control. Still, he was glad the king was returning from his honeymoon. Wendell's Chancellor was an old man. He had done his duty to the best of his ability, but like most Chancellors, he was an administrator, not a ruler. His talent lay in acting as second-in-command or Second on the Council. He could carry out orders and handle protocol or fill in for a while, but he had no idea how to really govern a kingdom or an army. When he finally saw the royal carriage pull up to the castle, he felt greatly relieved.

"What news?" Wendell demanded, as he burst into his study.

"None, your Majesty," the serious faced Chancellor said. "The Peeps continue to assert their innocence. And there's no clue at all as to who was behind the incident in Bean Town. It's conceivable that the leaders could have come from outlying areas. The Disenchanted Forest is close to Little Lamb Village. And Bean Town is of course not far from the old bean stalks. Both places could afford ample hiding."

"Could it be the trolls?"

"No your Majesty. Queen Matilde has double checked with Princess Alicia of the Ice Maidens. The troll kingdom is well in hand."

Wendell pulled his heavy cloak from his shoulders and threw it carelessly over the nearest chair. "It's a terrible thing. Both towns have had so much to deal with."

"Yes. And this may lead to more trouble." The Chancellor paused, wondering how to say what was on his mind. He thought Wendell and his new queen had distinguished themselves well in the recent war. But there were evidently still resentments about all the pardons and proclamations that had been made in favor of the wolves. The Chancellor feared the uprisings in Little Lamb Village and Bean Town might be the beginning of a trend. "We could place a few soldiers in some key areas," he suggested gently.

"You think there will be more disturbances then?"

"I don't know. But it is possible."

Wendell dragged his boots across the thick carpet and looked out the window behind his great mahogany desk. It was in this very spot that he had first caught sight of Rose. Little did he know that she would go on to become his right hand in the war and the great love of his life. Everyone had seemed so happy about the wedding. Had people forgotten so quickly?

"Ah, there you are, Wendell," Matilde said, walking into the room as if it were her office and not his. "Has the Chancellor had time to brief you?"

"Yes. Have you talked to the Council?"

"No and I'm not going to." The fairy swished across the floor in her gray lace gown. "I don't want to alarm people."

"Have you tried contacting Snow White?"

"Yes. I've tried reaching her through my crystal, the Mirror of Truth, and even Virginia's little singing ring. Snow's just not answering. The ring says it doesn't even sense her anymore. I don't know what's up with her, but if I had to guess about the rest of it I'd say these demonstrations were being orchestrated by your cousins. I've been watching them in my crystal, but I haven't seen any sign of their direct involvement yet."

"You think they may have hired mercenaries?"

"It's possible. Barron has sent a letter of protest to everyone on the Council complaining about your plans to make Rose your direct successor. Anti-wolf uprisings would add weight to his arguments."

"Should I have them arrested?"

"No. Not without proof. It would look too political. At the moment all we can do is keep watch."

"Perhaps it would help if Rose and I went go on a goodwill tour around the kingdom."

"With the oncoming of winter, your Majesty?" the always sensible Chancellor asked. He had been standing silently by, almost a part of the wall-sized bookcase behind him. He didn't think it was his place to interfere in the discussion between the two royals. But this idea worried him. Strange things sometimes happened to travelers in the Nine Kingdoms, especially during snow storms. There were legends about people in need of shelter suddenly finding a castle where there had been none minutes before. It was dangerous to enter such enchanted places because the powerful beings that controlled them were not always to be trusted. The last thing the Chancellor needed was for Wendell and his wife to disappear mysteriously.

"He can travel in my carriage," Matilde offered. "That way he can keep safe and dry. Does that allay your fears, Chancellor?"

"Yes, your Majesty," the Chancellor said gratefully.

"Then it's decided," Wendell said. "I rather think it will help. We'll leave right after your wedding, Matilde, which I trust is not far off."

"It's in a week," Matilde said, with a smile. "We were waiting for you to get back. Only family will be attending, plus the best man and his partner."

"I see. And who has Antony selected as his best man?"

"Rupert. He was glad for the honor, but he's heartbroken that we won't be doing the big wedding that he's been dreaming of. All the guests will be brought to my Ice Palace for the ceremony and Tony and I will stay there for our honeymoon. You can have my carriage while we're away."

"Will you be taking lots of guards on your tour, your Majesty?" the Chancellor asked.

"A few," Wendell said. "But I don't want to create distance between myself and my subjects. Having a lot of guards clanking about will just get in the way."

There was a proper knock on the door.

"Come in," Matilde said, again acting as if it were her office and not Wendell's.

Herbert the perfect butler let himself soundlessly into the room. "Your Majesty," he said with a bow, "You have guests."

"I don't have time to see anyone," Wendell said, with a dismissive wave. "Ask them to come back tomorrow."

"They say they are relatives of Queen Rose and Prince Wolf," Herbert said politely. "They're gypsies. You may have seen their carriage pull up to the castle."

"What?"

"I thought everyone in Rose and Wolf's family had died," Matilde said.

"I did too," Wendell said.

"The woman says her name is Pura and that she is the widow of Queen Rose's brother Wilhelm."

Matilde struggled to remember Wilhelm from the visions she'd seen in the Mirror of Truth not so long ago. She recalled a red headed baby and a dark haired lad only slightly older. They had both been taken by gypsies when their parents died. Rose had said they'd been killed after reaching adulthood.

"She says the young man with her is Wilhelm's son," Herbert continued. "His name is Timka."

"I wish we could verify all this before Rose and Wolf get involved," Matilde said.

"I can't hold this back from Rose," Wendell said. "She and Wolf have a right to question them."

"They're waiting in the Great Foyer," Herbert said.

"Fine. Show them in. Queen Matilde and I will interview them at once. Notify Queen Rose and Prince Wolf. Princess Virginia…is she here?"

"No, Sire. She's in the Seventh Kingdom with Queen Leaf Fall. She should be here in time for dinner."

"Well, this is one adventure she's going to miss. Bring them in."

- - - - - - - - - -

Pura and Timka were dressed in ordinary gypsy clothing, functional but faded and mismatched. Their hands showed evidence of hard work and their faces were chapped from the cold. They greeted the royals with guarded expressions that hinted at contempt and they didn't bother with polite curtsies or bows.

Pura recognized Wendell from the gold coins of the Fourth Kingdom. She looked boldly into his eyes, waiting for him to begin the dialogue.

"You're Rose's sister-in-law?" Wendell asked.

"I am," Pura said proudly.

"And you're her nephew?" Wendell asked, turning to the boy.

"He is," Pura said.

At this point Rose burst into the room. She had been running so hard that her red hair had almost completely fallen out of the long braid that she'd pinned to her head so carefully that morning. She looked like a cross between a fairy-tale princess fleeing for her life and a young wolf caught in a trap. "Wendell?" she asked breathlessly, looking wide-eyed at the two gypsies.

"This woman claims to be your brother Wilhelm's widow," Wendell explained.

"I don't claim to be," Pura said, "I am. And this is Wilhelm's son."

Rose looked at the boy with wide eyes. She had a nephew? Slowly she circled the boy and sniffed the air around him. "I can smell that he has wolf blood, but I can't be sure about the tie to my brother. It's been so long since I've smelled him. I'd recognize Wilhelm if I smelled him. But the tie between parent and child is harder to detect if you haven't smelled both relatively recently. Why wasn't I told about Timka?" she asked Pura. "Your people said Wilhelm and Lazar were both dead. No one ever mentioned you or the boy."

"Why would they?" Pura asked. "You're not one of us. You were told about my husband and his brother because they were dead. There was no harm in your knowing that. But how could my people be sure you didn't mean to harm me or the boy? Wilhelm and Lazar were both murdered. You might have been looking to murder us too."

"And why are you coming to us now?" Wendell asked. "Are you looking for money?"

"If Wilhelm were alive, he'd be a prince," Pura returned. "As his only heir, my boy deserves to be given the same title his father would have gotten, as well as whatever money goes with it."

"Indeed?" Wendell said.

Wolf slammed in then, throwing open the door to the study so hard that the ornate handle cracked the plaster as it hit the wall inside. "Herbert told me," Wolf panted. "Is it true?"

"We don't know yet," Wendell said.

"I can check with my crystal," Matilde put in.

"No, no let me!" Wolf said, his eyes glowing yellow. "I've seen Wilhelm lately. I can tell for sure." Carefully Wolf sniffed the air around Timka, first on one side, then on the other. "Yes!" Wolf announced. "He's Wilhelm's son. I'm sure of it!"

Rose stepped closer, reaching out tentatively to touch Timka's face. But the boy moved away.

Wolf was lost in the exaltation of finding family. He gave a joyous howl and then embraced them both. They were too surprised by the outburst to react. "Huff-puff! It's just wonderful!" Wolf said, prancing up and down. "Where have you been staying? It doesn't matter because you're staying here now. Right, Wendy?"

"Well, I..."

"Does Lazar have any children?" Rose asked. "Or a wife?"

"No," Pura said.

"This is wonderful!" Wolf said again, hugging Rose to his left side and Timka to his right. "We're a family again!"

- - - - - - - - - - -

"You've got a nephew??" Virginia asked. She had just gotten back from a day of work with Leaf Fall in the Seventh Kingdom and had been hoping for a nap before dinner. But Wolf was too excited to allow that. Virginia didn't mind. After all, finding out you have a nephew is pretty monumental. "Wolf, that's wonderful!"

"Oh, it is!" Wolf said, swinging his legs as he sat on their bed. "Pura…that's my new sister-in-law, she says Wilhelm looked a lot like me, except that he wasn't so exuberant."

"I can believe that," Virginia said smiling. Her husband's enthusiasm for everything was both exciting and exhausting. And their unborn son was giving every indication of being just as lively as his father. The little cub's kicks in her growing stomach were becoming more insistent by the day. It was as if he were already yearning to bound off into the woods. What a lively place the castle was going to be with Wolf and a teenager and a newborn cub all bouncing around the place at the same time. "I can't wait to meet them," she said.

- - - - - - - - - -

"I've gone over it twice," Matilde said sitting back wearily in her chair. "The crystal's visions show Pura is telling the truth."

"And…that's a bad thing?" Tony asked, arranging his paisley ascot. He was dressing upscale again. The word had spread through the Kingdoms about the palace's new boiler system and he was spending most of his days entertaining various dignitaries and explaining the intricacies of his invention. Tony gloried in the attention. His hair was coifed just right, his nails polished, and his suits were made of rich fabrics. He was back to being Lord Tony again, except without the romantic dalliances.

"It's just that I'm finding it very hard to like Pura and Timka," Matilde admitted.

"And you were hoping the crystal would give you some reason for feeling that way?"

"Yes," Matilde said. "Maybe I'm just being a snob."

"You?" Tony stopped admiring his reflection in the full length mirror and rubbed his fiancée's shoulders soothingly. "You may be a bit bossy sometimes. But you're never a snob."

Matilde shot Tony a look over her shoulder. "I'd take that as serious criticism, Lord Lewis, if you didn't yell so loudly at your apprentices."

"Perhaps I am a little hard on them sometimes. But it's not easy starting an industrial revolution."

Matilde laughed and patted Tony's hand in mock comfort. "My poor poor dear. I think what bothers me most about this whole Pura and Timka thing is that Snow White didn't tell us about them beforehand. I can understand her waiting a while to let everyone get used to the wolf proclamations first. But by the time of the wedding she should have told us. Why didn't she? After everything she brought to light during The Giant War, why wouldn't she tell us about Pura and Timka?"

"Maybe she thought it wasn't important."

"Not important! A gypsy who's a quarter wolf with a claim on Red Riding Hood's throne? How could that not be important?"

"Maybe she just thought it didn't need any magical intervention the way the other stuff did. I don't know. The idea of a dead woman acting as a fairy godmother to the Third and Fourth Kingdoms is beyond me anyway."

Matilde pulled herself forward over her crystal ball again. "Crystal?" she said touching it softly. "I need to talk to Snow White. Show me where she is."

The crystal went dark for a moment. Then it lightened into an image of Snow White's tomb in the depths of Dragon Mountain. It looked the same as it had when Virginia had seen it, except that it was in a different cavern. Snow seemed as peacefully dead as ever.

"Snow?" Matilde said, addressing herself to the image of her old friend. "Can you hear me? I need to talk to you." But the figure of Snow White remained still. "See? This same thing happened before when I tried to contact Snow about the uprisings in Little Lamb Village and Bean Town. I wish the crystal could talk. But the only time it can answer questions verbally is with a new user. For me that was a very long time ago. I hate to think of it, but maybe Snow White's work here is over."

"Over?" Tony asked. He had a hard time believing it had begun in the first place.

"Fairy godmothers don't stay on the job forever. They move on after a certain point. That's what happened with my mother. She served as fairy godmother to Cinderella until her wedding. Then she disappeared completely." Matilde tapped her fingers impatiently on the crystal over the image of Snow White. "But when my mother disappeared, her coffin and body disappeared as well. That doesn't seem to have happened with Snow."

"Yes, but your mother was a full blooded fairy, wasn't she? Maybe it's different for them. I mean, she was almost a thousand years old. Maybe she just turned to dust."

"It could be," Matilde said, not quite convinced.

- - - - - - - - - -

During dinner that night, the conversation at the royal table was entirely dominated by Wolf. He had spent the afternoon with Timka, showing him the castle and talking about "wolf stuff." Now with the whole "pack" together, Wolf was filling the young man in on family history. Rose tried to enter into the conversation several times, but it was hard to interrupt Wolf's flow. She also couldn't add much to Wolf's accounting of their parents' death and the separation of their cubs. She had only experienced these things behind the confusion of childhood.

As Wolf talked, Virginia also remembered. She agreed that Timka bore a strong resemblance to his father Wilhelm. But the distrust in his eyes as he looked at everyone except his mother and Wolf reminded her more of his great-grandfather Scythian, the full-blooded wolf who had helped Snow White's stepmother.

When dinner was over Wolf suggested to Timka that they might go for a hunt the next day, "Just so we can see how sharp your senses are."

"Yes," Timka said eagerly, his dark eyes dancing. "I've never had anyone to hunt with. I want to know how our people hunt. Do they use bows and arrows? Knives or swords?"

"Well, bows and arrows are best, except perhaps during the full moon. Then you may not need them."

"Let's go now," Timka said, imitating Wolf's whine.

"Now? But Rose may want to come too. She's a wonderful hunter. She's just not dressed for it right now."

Timka turned his dark untrusting eyes on his newly discovered aunt. "Women don't hunt," he said derisively. "That's a job for men."

"It may be for gypsies. But in a wolf pack, everyone hunts, males and females together. Only the very young stay home."

Timka scowled unbelievingly at Wolf. "I only want to hunt with you," he said, his voice rising insistently. "Just the two of us!"

To be fair, part of the reason for Timka's hostility lay in the fact that gypsies just didn't trust outsiders. Everybody at the table except for his mother and Wolf looked very foreign to him. Rose was dressed like a queen in an expensive maroon velvet gown with a high lace collar. Wendell and Matilde both looked and acted like crowned heads who expected to be obeyed. Tony looked like an important lord. And Virginia was dressed like a princess in one of Rupert's latest creations. She was also starting to carry herself with the confidence that her (almost) half-sister Leaf Fall expected her to have. In fact, some people were beginning to notice the similarity in looks between Virginia and the young Christine. Wolf with his casual suit and casual manner was more approachable.

Rose, however, didn't sense any of this. She was too busy feeling hurt. She wanted to feel the security of family around her just as much as Wolf did. But Timka didn't seem to want her around. "You two go ahead," she said, trying to save face. "Maybe I'll catch up later."

"You're sure?" Wolf asked.

"Yes. Go ahead. I haven't had a chance to visit with Virginia. She has to tell me all about her developing job as Second."

"Next time then," Wolf said.

"Next time," Rose agreed.

Satisfied, Timka jumped out of his seat and headed for the double doors of the dining room, with Wolf right behind him.

"He's never had a father before," Pura said. It was both an explanation and an apology.

Wendell wondered for a moment if he should tell Pura to teach her son some manners. But he thought perhaps that sounded too much like his old imperious self. Instead he reached for his wife's pale, freckled hand.

Tony could feel Matilde biting her tongue as well. That bossiness of hers that they had been joking about earlier was close to igniting. Tony followed Wendell's example and took his wife's hand. She squeezed his in answer. It was unspoken, but understood. If this family was going to work, it was going to have to find its own footing. And that meant things would get messy sometimes.

Pura saw all this handholding as a sign of solidarity around the table. Solidarity which she assumed would never include ordinary gypsies like her and her son. "If you'll excuse me," she said. And she left the room, with dignified measured steps.

"Wolf can be a bit oblivious sometimes," Virginia said to Rose. "I'll talk to him."

- - - - - - - - - -

Wolf and Timka thoroughly surveyed the snowy woods around Wendell's castle. In fact, they almost went as far as The Deadly Swamp. It was very late by the time they got home.

Wolf considered their trip a success. They had tracked a fox as it stalked its dinner, tried chasing a deer across a meadow, and found a rabbit warren in the center of a deep thicket. Then they listened to the call of an owl and tried to pinpoint its position. Timka had a wolf's sharp sense of smell and quick step. But his hearing was average for a human and so was his eyesight. Wolf knew he would be a stronger daytime or full moon hunter.

"Next we need to test your skill with a bow and arrow," Wolf told the boy when they got back to the castle.

"I haven't done much of that," Timka said. "Gypsies trap mostly."

"With your sense of smell and ability to run, I think a bow and arrow might increase your hunting chances. Let's meet in the front hall right after breakfast and see."

"Yes," Timka said. The smile that came to his lips was accentuated by his ruddy cheeks.

Wolf danced to his room. He hadn't been this happy since he and Virginia had been on their honeymoon. At last he had a job to do, just like Virginia had her work as Leaf Fall's Second. He was going to be a teacher to his nephew. A mentor! What fun!

But his high spirits were cut short when he opened to the door to his room and found Virginia standing there with her arms crossed in front of her. From the look on his faced he was definitely in trouble.

"What's the matter my little sausage?" Wolf asked, struggling to remember his indiscretion. Had he gotten home too late? Was it that extra helping he'd ordered at dinner? It had to be something that happened either at dinner or later because she'd seemed perfectly fine before then. "Virginia? My love?"

"How could you do that to Rose?" Virginia demanded.

"Do what?"

"Couldn't you see how much she wanted to go with you?"

"But she said..."

"She was just trying to save face. She was obviously very hurt. Timka wasn't very nice to her."

"I…I…"

"Instead of teaching Timka to respect her, you ran off with him, wagging your tail behind you. You acted more like a playmate than an uncle."

Wolf's eyebrows came together as he tried to remember. "Did I?" he whined. "I guess I was just caught up in the moment."

"I know you were. But you hurt Rose."

"I didn't mean to." Wolf dragged himself across the room and sank down onto the bed. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his only sister's feelings. "Should I go and apologize?"

"Not at this hour."

"All right. First thing in the morning then. Right after breakfast. Right before I meet Timka."

"If you're going to do something with Timka, I think you should include Rose this time."

"Yes, I will. We're going to shoot bows and arrows. That's something Rose is really good at."

"I don't know why you like Timka so much. That pouty face of his and the distrust in his eyes. He's like a cross between Wilhelm and Scythian. Remember how bad tempered Wilhelm was? And how Scythian hated everybody?"

"But Timka isn't like them. He's an entirely different person. He didn't look pouty at all while we were hunting tonight. In fact, he smiled just before I left him. Maybe all he needs is some time around us. Virginia, he's family. Long lost family. I don't want to believe anything bad about him."

"I know." Virginia sat down next to Wolf and rubbed his leg. "But I think Timka is going to need a strong hand."

"I don't think I can be much of a discipliner."

"You've got to learn. Both Timka and our son are going to need discipline."

"Huff-puff. I got too much of that from my full-blooded wolf stepparents. I don't want to be like them. Couldn't I just have fun with Timka?"

"Sure. You can have fun. But kids need discipline too."

Wolf sighed heavily, his lower lip sinking down toward his chest. He knew Virginia was right, but he wasn't happy about it. "I'll try and do better."

"Good," Virginia said, leaning into him.

Wolf put his arm around her and kissed her hair. "Do you think I'll be a good father?"

"Well, I think you'll spoil our son a bit, but you'll be a better parent than I will be."

"Oh, no no no no no!" Wolf insisted, pulling her face up towards his. "You'll be the best mother in all of the Nine Kingdoms! Of that I'm sure."

"I wish I could be."

"Remember how Snow White said you'll be like her one day, an advisor to lost girls. She wouldn't have said that if she didn't mean it. You'll see. Meanwhile, I'll try to be a better uncle."

- - - - - - - - - -

The next morning Wolf apologized profusely to his sister. Then, he invited her to join them for archery practice. "You're much better with weapons than I am," he insisted. "You've got to come."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

"Absolutely!"

Unfortunately, Timka wasn't so sure. When Wolf announced Rose was joining them, Timka immediately started to protest. "Girls don't hunt," the boy persisted.

"That's not true," Wolf said. "Not even among humans. Remember Gretel the Great? She hunted all the time. In fact, some said it was her greatest pleasure. In the animal world everybody hunts and wolves are no different. A wolf pack depends on all its members to hunt together. You're lucky. You have an aunt who's not only an expert at hunting she's also an excellent soldier."

Timka looked at Wolf as if he were demented. Still, he followed him to the castle's archery range without another complaint.

Rose joined them shortly outfitted in a pair of leather pants, a white wool sweater, and a jacket of tan suede. She had her long red hair tied loosely behind her and a long black case in her arms. "Have you started yet?" she asked.

"I was just showing Timka how to hold a bow," Wolf answered.

Neither Wolf nor Rose noticed the expression on Timka's face. He was completely horrified at Rose's new look. No gypsy women would ever dress like that. To him, Rose had gone from being a useless royal to a freak.

"I thought we might also work on handling a sword," Rose said, holding up the black case she was carrying. She put it down on a nearby table next to a couple of bows. Inside were two magnificent silver swords with leather handles. "I used these in The Giant War," she said, hefting one high into the air with a practiced hand. Her green eyes gleamed as she tested the weight of the weapon.

Neither Wolf nor Rose noticed Timka take a step back.

"Swords are good," Wolf said. "We could start with that and once we've worked up a sweat, we can turn to target practice."

"All right," Rose said to Wolf. "Take your weapon."

With a courtly bow, the two older wolves began to spar. Wolf explained their moves to Timka at first. Then Rose took over after he started to lose his breath. The red-headed she-wolf seemed to gain in energy and ferocity as the battle continued. She beat Wolf back without much effort.

"All right, all right," Wolf said. "I surrender. "Maybe I'll take a break while you and Timka spar. Here, Timka, I'll show you how to hold the sword."

"I'm not going to fight her," Timka said backing up again. "She's crazy. You can see it in her eyes."

"What?" Rose asked.

"Wellllll…" Wolf said, "you do look…formidable. Like Gretel the Great fighting back a whole army of trolls single-handedly."

"Fine," Rose said with a growl. She'd thought Timka would enjoy swords. Weren't all boys supposed to like playing war? "Then I'll leave you two alone." She whipped her sword through the air with a forceful whoosh. "I have more important things to do." She thrust her weapon into her case and snapped it shut.

"Aw, Rose."

"You can return the sword when you're finished with it."

"Rose!"

But she was already on her way back into the castle, her hair flying out behind her in total confusion.

"Good," Timka said. "I'm glad she's gone."

"What?"

"She has the temper of an Hsigo."

"Timka!"

"Well, she does. She's as crazy as one too."

Wolf put down his sword. "Look, you have to learn to respect your aunt."

"You mean because she's a queen?"

"No, because she's your aunt. And she's trying very hard to make you like her."

"I don't care. I don't like her and I'm not going to. Show me again how to hold a bow. I'm more interested in that, because I can use it for hunting."

"But wolves are supposed to respect their family. And gypsies are the same way."

"Gypsies aren't so loyal," Timka said, picking up the bow Wolf had discarded earlier. "My mother's family basically got rid of her. And my father's family doesn't bother with us at all."

"But your mother speaks about her people with great respect."

"Maybe she does. But I don't think they deserve it. The most they've ever done for her is save her a spot in the winter camp grounds. Only they make sure it's always far away from theirs." Timka picked up an arrow and tried in vain to shoot it toward the target. "I think it's smarter to pick your family."


	15. Chapter 15 Prince Consort

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**Prince Consort**

Prince Brutus officiated at Tony and Matilde's wedding because of his position within the Eighth Kingdom. At seven hundred odd years of age, he was the eldest of the ice fairies. He was also Matilde's uncle and heir to her throne. He was dressed in the gray signature color of his people with his shoulder length gray hair pulled back neater than usual. The bride was dressed in the same shade, but her gown was of satin, dusted with white snow flake shaped brilliants. Tony wore a slightly darker shade of gray in his suit.

It took place in the Ice Palace's solarium with just the immediate family present. There were glass windows on two sides and an opaque wall on the third. Sun light bounced off the snow outside and danced through the white interior of the room, where it was soaked up by the generous plantings of trees, flowers, and bushes.

"We gather today just as our ancestors gathered lifetimes before," Prince Brutus began. "To greet love anew and treasure it. We who live so long know especially well how empty life can be without it."

Lord Rupert, who was standing next to Tony in his position as Best Man, pulled out his peacock blue satin handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.

"Matilde, daughter of Sabirah and Theros, has chosen Anthony as her husband. And Anthony, son of Lisa and Dennis, has chosen her as his wife. They make their vows here in the sight of their family and of our ancestors, who we believe still exist here within the walls of the Ice Palace."

Rupert's gentle crying switched to full out sobbing. Prince Brutus fixed his gray eyes upon him and waited for him to stop.

"I think we should step outside," Herbert the perfect butler said, coming up behind his partner.

Lord Rupert nodded.

"Excuse us, please," Herbert said. And he led Rupert out.

As soon as the white doors closed behind them, Rupert threw himself over Herbert and wailed uncontrollably. Every now and again he would moan forlornly, "It would have been so beautiful. Soooo beautiful! If only they'd let me do it my way."

Inside the solarium Prince Brutus joined the hands of the bride and groom and urged them forward to exchange their vows. They were simple.

"I promise to stay by your side no matter what life entails," Matilde said. "Whether we face more wars or happy endings. I will love you for as long as you live and beyond. And your family will be mine."

"Matilde," Tony said, "Thank you for giving me this second chance at love. I will also stay by your side…no matter how many monsters or curses we have to face. Of course, I'd rather have a happy ending. But somehow, I think we already have that. Your family of course will always be mine."

Brutus then passed a cup of wine to Matilde. She drank from it and gave it to Tony. This signified that they would in essence drink from the same cup from then on. Afterwards Brutus loosely bound Tony and Matilde's hands together with a cord of braided silver and declared them husband and wife.

They didn't exchange rings because fairies didn't follow that custom. But Tony made sure the kiss part was left in. He swept Matilde into his arms before her old uncle could object.

Brutus's gray eyebrows rose slightly, but he waited till they pulled apart before speaking again. He had some official points to make. "As Matilde's husband you will be given the title of Prince Consort," he told Tony. "But that it is an honorary title. You will not be given a position in the Eighth Kingdom's line of succession."

"Yes, I know," Tony said, "That's all right. I think you and your daughter, Princess Alicia, are better suited to that. I prefer my other title…Lord Lewis, Inventor to King Wendell."

Wendell couldn't help but smile at that.

"But you will still be considered a subject of the Eighth Kingdom," Brutus continued.

"That's all right. I happen to like your Queen." Tony kissed Matilde again.

"And you will be duty bound to defend the kingdom and to serve Matilde's successor, if she should die or become unable to rule during your lifetime."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." Tony patted his new uncle on the shoulder. "We've got to greet our other guests now."

Brutus shook his head. Tony was entirely too boyish for him. He preferred Matilde's second husband, Centaurea, the former king of the elves. He had been a king's king, both dashing and regal. Brutus had performed their marriage too. As he recalled, Centaurea's vows had been about two spirited people joining together to work nobly for their people. Centaurea had certainly lived those vows. He'd fought with Matilde on behalf of the Nine Kingdoms till the very end.

Brutus had never met Matilde's first husband because he'd lived in another dimension and had died early in their marriage. But he had met their daughter a couple of times. Brutus couldn't remember the girl's name anymore. Matilde raised the child in her father's homeland until she was about Princess Virginia's age. Then she brought her to back to the Nine Kingdoms, where she had only lived a short time before her tragic death. It had been so long ago. All Brutus could remember about the girl was that she had her mother's looks and her father's noble calling to be a healer. After the girl's death, his sister Sabirah had asked him never to talk about her again because it would bring Matilde pain. Of course he'd followed her wishes. What a horror to lose your only child, Brutus thought. Was Matilde thinking of the girl today as she married for the third time?

At least Brutus could see that Tony loved Matilde and wasn't greedy for power like Mazarin had been. Brutus remembered Mazarin courting Matilde when she was still very young. Both he and Sabirah had been glad she'd turned down his advances. Brutus thought he saw a facial similarity between the evil wizard and Tony, but he thought he was probably just imagining it.

As Tony and Matilde turned to greet their guests, Princess Alicia stepped forward. She looked very formal in the military garb of the Ice Maidens. She bowed to the newly married couple and said, "May magic and love attend you always…Aunt…Uncle."

Matilde took Alicia's gloved hands and said, "It's hard to believe you used to hide among the greenery of this room when you were a little girl and throw magical firecrackers at unsuspecting passersby. As I remember, you would make the firecrackers spin around their heads several times before exploding in a rage of red."

"Yes," Alicia said, with an impish smile that showed off the dimple in her left cheek. "Your mother taught me how to do that. It always infuriated Daddy. The Ice Maidens would be very shocked if they knew their commander had done such a thing. They think I am very businesslike and colorless."

"I know. That's why it's so much fun to remember you the way you were."

Virginia pushed her way into Tony's arms while Alicia and Matilde continued talking about old times.

"Daddy, I wish you every happiness," Virginia said, burying her face in her father's chest. She hoped he didn't notice the catch in her voice or see the tears gathering in her eyes. But of course he did.

"Oh, now…" Tony said, cupping her face in his hands. "Don't you think Rupert's crying jag was enough for one day? You're not losing me, you know."

"I know," Virginia said, a tear slipping down her face.

"You're just gaining a bigger pack," Wolf said, rubbing his wife's back.

"That's one way of putting it," Leaf Fall said. "Matilde, I must thank you for making me your matron of honor. I thoroughly approve of this marriage. I think Lord Lewis has softened you. You aren't nearly so abrasive as you once were. In fact, you're almost tolerable."

"Thank you so much," Matilde quipped.

"I guess this makes you my new father," Leaf said to Tony.

"Just don't expect me to call you Daddy. May magic and love attend you always."

Matilde took Leaf Fall's hands and they embraced.

"May you both live Happily Ever After," Wolf said pounding Tony on the back.

"Yes," Lord Rupert agreed with a sniff. He had managed to stop crying for a couple of minutes, but seeing Tony in his much-too-simple suit started him up again. "Happy Ever Afterrrr!" he said, flinging himself over Tony.

"I wish I had been as sensible as you and married for love," Leaf Fall told Matilde in a soft voice.

"There are worse men than Woodbine," Matilde said.

"True. But I married him to strengthen my claim to the throne. You can't live Happily Ever After in a marriage of state."

"Who says? Happily Ever After can happen anywhere. Speaking of Woodbine, where is he? Where are the girls?"

"The girls are off somewhere as usual and Woodbine thought this was more an occasion for family."

"Matilde!" Tony barged in-between his wife and Leaf Fall, pulling Wendell along in his wake. "Guess what Rose and Wendell are giving us for a wedding gift? A flying carpet!! Can you believe it?"

"I'm afraid that's not for me," Matilde said with a shake of her platinum blond head. "I prefer to do my flying in an enclosure like my carriage, preferably with the help of traveling dust. I'll leave the flying to the winged fairies and elves."

"Don't be a party-pooper," Tony said. "It'll be fun!"

"It sounds like the perfect grandparent gift," Leaf offered. "Something to lure the grandchildren to you for an afternoon."

"I'm sure our little cub will like it," Wolf said. "And Timka too."

Timka and his mother were standing off from the others. They'd been invited because they were family, but they still weren't blending in well.

"Don't you think it will be fun?" Wolf asked pulling his nephew over."

"Yes. If Lord Lewis will let us use it," Timka said.

"Of course he will. We can all go together or take turns."

"Wendy says it seats four," Tony said.

"Pura? Do you want to come?" Wolf asked

Pura's expression was an obvious no.

"Don't look at me," Virginia said. "At least not till after the baby's born."

"How about you Rupert?" Tony asked his best man. "Would that cheer you up?"

"A trip? On a flying carpet? In all that…wind?" Rupert's face turned from heartbreak to horror as he imagined all the messed hair and wrinkled clothing.

"I guess not," Tony said. "Rose? Wendell?"

"I think it would be fun," Wendell said.

"Not for me," Rose answered. "I think wolves belong on the ground."

"Queen Red?" Tony asked. Queen Red Riding Hood the Third was standing arm in arm with her Cousin Rose. She'd come in later than the rest. "I think not," she said. For her flying on a magic carpet was too similar to being plucked up by a giant named Spider.

"Leaf Fall?"

"Since I can fly under my own power there really wouldn't be much excitement in it for me," Leaf said, with a flutter of her wings.

"Why don't you four boys go on your own," Matilde suggested. "Make it a male bonding sort of thing."

"Won't it be dangerous for someone as old as Lord Lewis?" Timka asked.

"Tony's not old," Wolf said. "He may be losing his hair, but that doesn't mean he's old."

"Wolf, don't help," Tony said.

"Cousin Red," Wolf said. "Have you met our newly discovered nephew, Timka? And his mother, Pura?"

"Not yet," Red said. Word of this new relation to Red Riding Hood the First had traveled quickly over the Nine Kingdoms. But the present Queen Red hadn't been formally introduced. As she stepped forward, she couldn't help but wonder why Wolf was performing the service and not Rose.

Red extended her hand toward Pura with her palm down. Pura didn't take it because she thought Red wanted her to kiss her hand. That was something a gypsy would ever do. They had too much pride.

Red hesitated a moment and then she curtsied. "How do you do?" she asked politely, bowing her head a touch.

No queen in the Nine Kingdoms had ever curtsied to a gypsy before. Pura's eyes widened at the sight and she realized that Queen Red had been trying to shake her hand before. What an amazing thing! Was this the same Red Riding Hood the Third who was well known for her hatred of wolves and members of the lower classes? Even her style of dress had changed. Red's dark burgundy gown was not nearly as pretentious as the ones she formerly wore. The gypsies at the winter camp had said she had been changed by her war experiences, but Pura hadn't quite believed it. Trying to recover she returned Red's curtsy and said, "How do you do?"

Red curtsied yet again. "It's good to meet you, Cousin Pura. And you as well, Cousin Timka."

"Say hello to the Queen," Pura urged her son.

"Hello," Timka said. But it was clear he wasn't pleased by the acquaintance.

"Please, call me Cousin Red. Wolf does." Red smiled and extended her dainty hand to Pura once more. This time the gypsy took it. "I'm afraid my official name is the only one I've got. My parents never gave me another."

"Cousin Red," Pura said, hesitating between the words.

But Timka still held back.

"At the next Council meeting we're going to present Timka for a spot in the line of succession," Wolf said.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Then you must come and visit me and get to know your family's country of origin better," Red said to Timka. "Rose and Wendell have promised to pay me a quick visit on their goodwill tour. You should meet them and come as well."

But Timka made no answer.

As the reception party wore on, Queen Red couldn't help but notice that while Wolf and Timka were obviously becoming close, Timka's attitude toward everyone else was rather cold. Pura tried to be friendly with the others, even though she did it clumsily. But Timka seemed interested only in Wolf. When Rose made a couple of attempts to talk to him, he walked away from her.

Red was not especially happy about this ill-mannered child becoming a prince of her realm. It was true that she had once been ill-mannered too, showing no interest in the feelings of others. But she believed now that the people of the Second Kingdom deserved better. They had suffered so much. They needed a ruler who cared about them. If anything happened to her, she knew Wolf would do that. So would Rose. And she knew they would teach their children to do the same. Maria Thompson, the distant cousin who was third in line for her throne, was an independent farmer who preferred living alone. But she was respected by her neighbors for her honesty and loyalty. Timka…What kind of ruler would he be?

At the end of the party, Pura exchanged a series of curtsies with Queen Red. Then she wished Rose and Wendell success with their goodwill trip. She gave Tony and Matilde a gypsy good luck charm as a wedding gift. "It will tie your hearts together and ward off evil," Pura said. "I had it made by the oldest gypsy in the Nine Kingdoms. Old Elsa has very strong magic. Put it under one of the pillows on your bed or carry it."

"We will," Matilde said warmly.

After Rose and Wendell made their goodbyes, they left immediately to begin their goodwill tour. Leaf Fall made a few more jokes about Matilde's softer demeanor and asked Wolf if this new family tie would make her an honorary wolf. Wolf embraced the happy couple enthusiastically and urged Timka forward to mumble his good wishes. Lord Rupert's congratulations were as loud as Timka's had been soft, sprinkled liberally with more tears. Herbert was dignified as always, delivering his good wishes with a perfect bow. Virginia came last, embracing first Matilde and then her father.

As Virginia and Tony were talking, Matilde noticed Virginia wasn't carrying the cane. She glanced back to the table and saw Raphaela float up into the air next to a chair. Because of the situation, she couldn't give her mother a hug or verbalize any congratulations like the others could. She was supposed to be a cane, a magic one perhaps, but a cane nevertheless. All she could do was mutely tip herself forward. Matilde nodded in return, but she yearned for more. When she'd married Centaurea, she had carried the cane as well as a bouquet of flowers down the aisle. During the ceremony, she'd had Alicia, her maid of honor, hold onto it. Raphaela had been closely involved in everything, even if no one else except Centaurea knew about it. But this time, they were separated. And for some reason, Matilde wondered if it would be permanent.

- - - - - - - - - -

When all the goodbyes were done, Leaf Fall conducted the rest of the party guests back to Wendell's castle through the magic of traveling dust.

As soon as Pura had Timka alone she rebuked him for being impolite to his new relations. She hadn't said much until then because she had been hoping that his growing friendship with Wolf would lead him to accept the others as well. "What are you doing?" she asked. "These people have so much they can give you. We can make our fortune here."

"I can't play up to Queen Red Riding Hood," Timka said with disgust. "I know some at the winter camp say she's changed, but I don't believe it. People don't change."

"They can if they're willing to, or if something happens to change them. I see it in Queen Red's eyes. She is not the same woman who made all those proclamations against the wolves. Didn't your gypsy senses tell you that? Didn't you see it in her friendship with Queen Rose?"

"No. I don't trust her. And I trust Rose even less now because she's so friendly with her. I refuse to act like their lap dog. And I'm ashamed of you for playing up to them." And with that he left her alone in the hallway.

He's too much like his father, Pura said to herself. Wilhelm never trusted anyone. If only Timka had a temperament more like Lazar or Wolf or even Rose. Rose had flashes of temper, but she could still inspire love and loyalty. If only Timka could be that way. There were times when Pura wasn't even sure he was loyal to her. He was always on the defensive, as if he expected to be betrayed at any moment.

- - - - - - - - - -

Matilde had made the bridal chamber as magically romantic as possible. It glowed with the flicker of fairy lamps and the warmth of a real fire. The scent of roses cut from bushes in the solarium made it smell more like summer than winter. A harp played itself softly in a corner. There was a low bed set up in front of the fire, as well as a chilling bottle of champagne and some sweets and finger food.

"We'll be mostly alone in the palace this week," Matilde told Tony as she closed the door behind them. "Most of the Ice Maidens are in the Third Kingdom watching the trolls. I would like to take you down to see the underground cities of the Eighth Kingdom. Our tunnels are wide and bright, unlike those of the dwarves. And we decorate everything with sparkling crystals."

"If your kingdom is as beautiful as this palace, I'm sure I'll love it," Tony said, pulling his bride into his arms. "This is quite a love trap you've set up."

"Just trying to inspire."

"It's working. I feel pretty inspired already." He kissed her deeply, molding his body to hers.

"Just let me get out of this gown," Matilde said, pulling back.

"Now there's an idea I can endorse."

"You pour us some champagne. I won't be long." She floated off toward the enormous private bath, dropping the charm Pura had given them onto the bed and leaving the door open behind her.

Tony quickly threw off his jacket, suspenders, and shoes, letting them fall wherever. He wasn't especially good at opening champagne bottles, but he managed this one without incident and poured it into two frosted glasses.

"I think Virginia is beginning to accept things," Tony said settling down onto the low bed in front of the fire.

"I think so," Matilde answered from the bathroom. "But she still looked a little afraid that she was losing you. I loved Wolf's comment about her gaining a bigger pack."

"Yeah. Just what I've always wanted. To be part of a wolf pack."

Matilde laughed.

"I think your family has some reservations too. Princess Alicia seemed OK about it, but Brutus…I don't think he approves of me."

"Brutus just had a special fondness for Centaurea," Matilde said, coming out of the bathroom. She was dressed in a silky cream colored negligee.

Tony took one look at her and completely forgot what they were talking about. The clinging gown had no decoration save for the contours of the wearer. "Who?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Centaurea, my second husband. Brutus pretty much considered Centaurea a god. A lot of people did, considering how he died."

"He died?"

Matilde laughed. "Yes. Otherwise it would be very improper for me to marry you." She lifted up the champagne glasses and offered one to Tony.

Tony moved closer and ran a hand over her back. "I think Brutus could have saved giving me that title, though. Prince Consort. It sounds dirty, like I'm your love slave or something. Which I actually wouldn't mind."

"To my love slave then," Matilde said, holding her glass up for a toast.

"I'll drink to that."

They clinked glasses and kissed again.

"You seem a little sad," Tony said, stroking her cheek.

"I didn't get to say anything to Raphaela. She bowed to us from across the room, but we didn't have time for anything else."

"Do we really need to keep her a secret? I mean, you said Mazarin is gone for good."

"Some of his followers are still alive. We arrested as many as we could, turning Mazarin's old castle into Snow White Memorial Prison. But some escaped."

"Well, we'll try and get you a moment with her when we get back from our honeymoon."

"We'll be smack in the middle of preparing for the next Council Meeting."

"No matter. You'll just tell Virginia you have to borrow Raphaela to test her or something. Now…not to change the subject…but do you know how hard it is to concentrate on anything else while you're wearing that?"

"You like it?"

Tony ran his hand over the negligee again, enjoying the silkiness of the fabric and the warmth underneath. "Very much," he said. "I think it calls for further investigation."

And he took her champagne glass away and put it with his on the nearby table.


	16. Chapter 16 The Line of Succession

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**The Line of Succession**

The next Council meeting took place in the First Kingdom in the Great Hall where that kingdom's legislative body usually met. The members of the Ruling Body of the Council sat in a box on the right behind the center platform. The Seconds and other non-voting guests sat in a larger box on the left. Matilde sat between them with a podium in front of her. As president, she was the moderator. In front of the platform sat the bulk of the council or Commoners as they were sometimes called. They were both chosen and elected, but truthfully, most weren't what you'd call commoners. A few had minor royal titles and some had military rank. There were also several mayors and men of property. There were no wolves or gypsies or goblins belonging to the Common end of the Council. But the Prime Minister of the First Kingdom had been trying to get the wolf general Carpathian named to it for his military service. Most of the more common Commoners were fairies, elves, or dwarves. The trolls were not part of the Council. They'd been asked a couple of times in an attempt to get them to behave, but they had refused.

After a quick review of old business, which included a report from the Ice Maidens on how things were going in the Third Kingdom with the trolls and the protection spells that were being maintained to keep the giants up their bean stalks, the floor was opened to new business.

"I call forth the Duke of Farmingdell in the Fourth Kingdom," Matilde said, dreading what was to come. "Barron Dragon-Slayer."

Barron came striding out of the Guest Box where he had been seated next to his sister Felicity. His black cape flapped behind him as he strode across the platform, making him look like a very large, very angry bat. He wasn't wearing fur on his cape this time. He was afraid it might make him look unsympathetic. "My cousin Wendell has just returned from a goodwill tour in the Fourth Kingdom," he said, sweeping his right arm out toward the Commoners. "Unfortunately, Wendell's goodwill tour didn't do much good. There have been several uprisings all over the Fourth Kingdom since his marriage. First in Little Lamb Village, then in Bean Town, and then beyond. As heir to the throne of the Fourth Kingdom, I have been very concerned about these uprisings.

"I am not against the recent proclamations that have been made by the Ruling Body of the Council in reference to the wolf population. But I believe these things should have been brought to a vote by the full Council before they were implemented. I think in this case the Ruling Body misused their war time power to make laws and proclamations without the input of the rest of the Council. These changes have come too quickly. Perhaps if they'd been made slowly, people would have had time to adjust. But such extreme change has created problems. The Fourth Kingdom is full of unrest. And now, my cousin wishes to make matters worse by pulling me out of the line of succession!"

Barron came to a stop. "I know the Council usually tries not to get involved with the line of succession in individual kingdoms, unless it affects the whole of the Nine Kingdoms in some way, as in the case of Duke Jack Sprat the Fourth." Barron nodded toward the Duke who was sitting in as Second with the rest of the Ruling Body for The Naked Emperor's Great Grandson.

Duke Jack Sprat the Fourth looked more like the well-groomed king from a deck of cards than his well-known gangly ancestor. He had been chosen as stand-in emperor and heir to the throne while the Council urged things toward a more parliamentary government in the Sixth Kingdom. The Naked Emperor's Great Grandson wasn't happy about it. He thought it would be more fun to choose the next emperor through a scavenger hunt. He proposed they mint a golden bean, which would then be hidden in the year's bean crop. The person who found the bean would become his heir. The Council thought it better to have someone officially chosen and trained in the business of ruling.

"Sometimes it is necessary to interfere in an individual kingdom's business for the good of all those around it," Barron continued. "This is also such a case."

"I don't see why," Wendell said jumping to his feet. Since it was his kingdom and his throne being discussed, he had the right to speak without being recognized. "My wife is not some mad old man, spending his time in endless fantasies. She has fought at my side against the trolls and the giants in direct combat. She helped rescue Red Riding Hood the Third. And she worked to push the enemy out of both the Fourth and the Second Kingdoms. Meanwhile, you've never done anything for the benefit of the Fourth Kingdom. You've never fought with the army or helped me with the business of ruling. I once asked you to be my Second instead of giving the job to my Chancellor and you turned me down. You told me you were bored by Council meetings and thought they were a waste of time, that a real king shouldn't have to answer to anyone."

"That is not the truth," Barron said, trying to look wounded. He turned back to the Commoners of the Council. "Wendell told me he thought his Chancellor was better suited to the role since they had daily communication with each other. And I abided by his wishes."

"Liar."

"I might call you the same," Barron said. "But that is not the issue before the Council. We're discussing the fact that many of your subjects are not happy about the sudden rise to power that the wolves have enjoyed."

"We suspect these uprisings have been caused by hired mercenaries, perhaps from outside the Fourth Kingdom."

"How do you know if you haven't arrested anyone?"

"The uprisings always take place near areas with ample hiding, places that are almost impossible to search, like the Disenchanted Forest. By the time the authorities arrive, there is never a trace of the insurgents."

"That's possible of course," Barron said with an offhanded wave of his cape. "But I think it's more likely that they are disappearing so quickly because the populace is supporting them, hiding them away before your military troops can arrive. There has been growing trouble in the Fifth Kingdom over these same issues. We've all heard about the recent demonstrations at Rapunzel's Tower, where King Cole had to send in his best troops to put down his own people."

King Cole lowered his head in shame. Ever since Wolf and Virginia had visited Rapunzel's Tower, it had become the center of anti-wolf activities in the Fifth Kingdom. The incident Barron was referring to had taken place while Tony and Matilde were still on their honeymoon. Cole was horrified that his mother's tower should be desecrated by the people she had once loved. Rapunzel's ghost had cried for days over it.

"I don't want to see that happen in the Fourth Kingdom," Barron continued. "We've got to take steps so it doesn't!"

"That is the Fifth Kingdom," Wendell said, stepping out to meet his cousin face to face. "There may have been a few uprisings in the Fourth Kingdom. But everywhere Rose and I went during our recent trip we were greeted by cheering crowds. I think we have many more supporters than detractors."

"Your father thought he was right about your stepmother too," Barron pointed out with a sneer. "She was moved into the position of Queen and regent after his death without a proper investigation. You know what a mistake that decision was."

Wendell took a step closer. "Rose is not my stepmother."

"I am not comparing the women, only the speed of action. You're moving too fast with this, Cousin."

From her seat in the Guest box, Felicity nodded with pride.

"Then we'll bring it to a vote," Matilde announced. "Will the Council endorse Queen Rose's move into the line of succession behind her husband, King Wendell?"

The count was taken quickly by Matilde and Lobelia the Elf. The Ruling Body voted unanimously for Rose. The commoners from the Fifth Kingdom voted no. The reactions from the rest of the council were mixed, but Rose was still favored.

Barron was horrified. He had been sure that he would win. He wrapped his black cape tightly around himself before protesting anew. "Does this mean that the noble name of Dragon-Slayer is to be lost to the throne of the Fourth Kingdom after so many centuries?"

"No!" called Felicity from her seat. She didn't realize that she was sitting next to Timka and his mother. She'd heard gossip about them, but had never seen them. They looked at her strangely, comparing the coarseness of her call with her expensive gown and cape edged with fox fur.

"What if something happens to both Wendell and his wife?" Barron said, his voice swelling dramatically as he went. "What if they both become incapacitated before they have a child of ruling age? Who will step in, either as regent or ruler? Is there to be anarchy!?"

Matilde tried not to roll her eyes.

Felicity stood up. "What if Wendell and his wife had died, or disappeared, or fallen under some kind of spell during their recent goodwill tour?"

"We would have had anarchy!" Barron said, throwing out his arms and cape.

"The line of succession needs to be longer than one person!" Felicity insisted.

Wendell saw the nods among the Commoners. It looked like they were going to endorse keeping Barron and Felicity in the line of succession, at least until he and Rose had a small group of heirs. What Wendell needed was at least one other person who would keep his cousins further back, someone who could be trusted to watch over his children until they reached adulthood. "Then I nominate my step-sister, Princess Virginia!" Wendell said proudly, "to be second in line for my throne and regent to my children in case of need."

There was a moment of shocked surprise and then a rush of whispers.

Virginia's blue eyes were round with shock. She was sitting in the Guest Box next to Wolf, who was there to speak on behalf of his nephew. They were as surprised as everyone else. Barron's face screwed up into a snarl. He was about to thunder his complaint at Wendell's suggestion when he saw the agreeable nods all around the chamber.

Most people didn't think of Virginia as Wendell's stepsister. Yet that's what she was. Virginia was a rising star to everybody except those in the Fifth Kingdom. Not only had she been chosen by Snow White to save the Nine Kingdoms from her mother and reveal the truth of the past, she was also the protégé of the well respected Leaf Fall. Virginia was an even better candidate for the line of succession than Rose.

Matilde moved immediately to take the vote. "All those in favor of making Princess Virginia second in line for the throne of the Fourth Kingdom…"

The vote was roundly in Virginia's favor, with only the Commoners of the Fifth Kingdom saying no.

Barron staggered for a moment, unable to speak.

"But you still need the Dragon-Slayer's," Felicity said, standing once more at her seat. "Princess Virginia is tied to the Second Kingdom through her husband. He is heir to the throne there. She herself is tied to the Seventh Kingdom through her job as Second. The line of succession needs to go beyond her, at least until royal heirs are born and come of age."

"Yes!" Barron said, finding his voice.

"Very well," Matilde said snippily. "All those in favor of keeping the Dragon-Slayer's in the line of succession…"

This motion carried as well. Felicity looked quite pleased. But Barron and Wendell did not.

"Next we have another line of succession question," Matilde said. "For the Second Kingdom. Prince Wolf will be speaking on that matter."

Wolf tried to step out forcefully the way Wendell had done. He was very aware that some saw him as the leader of the wolves. Everything he did and said reflected on the rest of his kind. He didn't particularly want that honor because it made him nervous. Too many things could go wrong. But that was the way it was. "I'm bringing this before the Council because it was the Council that brought the present line of succession into being in the Second Kingdom," Wolf said, a little dry-mouthed. "I am speaking for my newly discovered nephew. He is the son of my brother Wilhelm, who's dead. If my brother were still alive, he too would have received a place in the line of succession because he was Scarlet's son. Since he cannot be here to accept it, I nominate my nephew Timka instead. He's here today with his mother." Wolf gestured toward them. "Stand up."

Pura and Timka stood up at their seats. Felicity's face filled with horror as she realized who they were. She tugged her skirts away from them so they wouldn't touch her accidentally.

"Timka isn't much more than a cub yet," Wolf said. "But that's a good thing. He's likely to outlive most of us and learn all the things he needs to know. I think he should fall after my sister Rose in the line of succession, just as his father would have. Thank you."

A dwarf in the front row raised his hand. Since he wasn't directly involved in the situation, he needed to be recognized in order to speak.

"Pyrus the dwarf," Matilde called.

Pyrus wobbled to his feet, using his crooked cane. He was a very old dwarf with a very long beard who'd been on the Council longer than any of the other Commoners. "Did this lad do anything in the last war?" he asked in his scratchy voice, peering over the top of his glasses.

"Uh, I don't think so," Wolf said. "He's really too young to be in the army."

"He hasn't spent all that much time in the Second Kingdom has he?"

"Well, gypsies travel a lot."

"That girl in the succession line, that distant cousin…what's her name?"

"You mean Maria Thompson?"

"Yes, her. Since the Council's been asked about this, I think she should be in the line of succession before this young lad Timka. She's been in the Second Kingdom all this time, knows its people and its ways. I think she would be more responsible as a ruler because of that."

One of the Commoners from the Fifth Kingdom raised his hand.

"Adolphus Quikken," Matilde called.

Adolphus was a round barrel of a man with blotchy skin. He hated wolves and didn't want any more of them getting titles. "I don't see why the Second Kingdom needs anyone else in the line of succession. You've got four in the Fourth Kingdom and four in the Second Kingdom with the birth of this Prince Wolf's child. Why do they need any more?"

There was general muttering around the hall.

Queen Red Riding Hood the Third stood up. "I think Timka should appear somewhere in the line of succession because he's a member of the Red family."

Pyrus raised his hand again. "Then put him after this Maria Thompson," he said.

More argument followed. The Commoners of the Fifth Kingdom got very loud. Like Adolphus, they were all eager to stop any more wolves from moving forward. Some of the Commoners who had nothing against wolves in general thought four in the line of succession was enough. Others felt Timka didn't deserve the honor because he hadn't done anything for the Second Kingdom and didn't even live there. Most of the members with royal titles felt Timka should get his title because of his birth, just as they had. Those without titles saw it as an opportunity to put those who had them in their place. The voices got louder and louder.

Matilde called for order, but the Commoners of the Fifth Kingdom wouldn't let up. Finally Matilde had to use magic to stop it. She threw a hand to the ceiling and something like a thunderbolt shot out. "Silence!" she yelled. And finally there was. "First we should vote on Timka's place in the succession, since that is the question that Prince Wolf brought to the floor. Shall Timka appear after Queen Rose and before Maria Thompson?"

Things got very quiet as the vote was presented. The Ruling Body once again voted yes. But the majority of the Commoners voted no. The motion was not carried.

"Then, should the lad fall after Maria Thompson?" Matilde asked.

"We've already voted," Adolphus said without raising his hand. "He's out."

Matilde raised her hand toward the angry man as if considering sending a fire bolt toward him. "The queen of the Second Kingdom has said he should appear somewhere in the line of succession because of his blood ties. She has the right to request that. So again I ask…should the lad fall after Maria Thompson?"

The count was duly taken. This time the motion managed to carry over the objections of the Fifth Kingdom's Commoners. But it wasn't a roaring victory.

"What title shall the boy have?" Matilde asked the congregation.

"Prince!" Wolf said. "His father would have carried that title."

"But he's not his father!" Barron called out. He was standing near the Second's box.

"You're out of order," Matilde said.

"But it has something to do with me," Barron said. "I don't carry the title of prince. Why should this Timka? He's a cousin to Queen Red just as I am a cousin to King Wendell."

Pyrus the dwarf raised his hand.

"Pyrus."

"Does Maria Thompson carry a title?"

"She was given the title of princess," Matilde said. "But she refused it. She said a farmer doesn't need a title, that she could always take it up some time in the future if she needed to."

"Then if she's ahead in the line of succession and she doesn't use a title, Timka shouldn't either. Like her, he can take it up if it's needed."

"Or earned," Adolphus said.

"Adolphus," Matilde scolded, "I will not caution you again."

"You fairies with your pet wolves. It's got to stop!"

Matilde was tempted to use magic against him, but she thought better of it. "Remove him from the room," she ordered the two guards of the First Kingdom who were standing nearby.

Adolphus went, but not quietly. He screamed and yelled and was cheered by the other Fifth Kingdom Commoners as he was dragged out.

"Would the rest of the Fifth Kingdom like to leave as well?" Matilde asked, pulling out a pouch of traveling dust. "I may have run out of guards, but I don't need them to send you out."

The Commoners from the Fifth Kingdom quieted down at that. They knew from experience that Matilde did not make idle threats and they didn't want to miss out on voting against Timka.

"Now…again," Matilde said, "should Timka receive the title of Prince?"

The answer, just barely from the Council was no. Like Maria Thompson, he was to carry no title, even though he was present in the line of succession. The Fifth Kingdom Commoners paraded out of the hall as if they had won a great victory.

"I'm so sorry," King Cole said to everyone around him. "I've lost control of my kingdom. I don't know why or how."

Queen Cinderella shook her perfectly coifed red curls. "It's as bad as we've heard then?"

"Worse. I've left my Chancellor, Gavrilo, behind to keep an eye on things with the bulk of my army. I dare not leave the kingdom unsupervised."

"And how is your poor mother's ghost taking this?"

"She wishes she had the power to haunt the whole kingdom. But ghosts have such a narrow haunting zone. As long as I am alive she can only haunt the area in the castle that I frequent most. That comes down to my private rooms, the throne room, and the main dining hall. She can't even visit her old tower. She says if she could, she would have haunted that last uprising unmercifully."

"Please send her my best," Cinderella said, patting his plump hand.

Wolf made his way to Timka and Pura. "I'm so sorry!" he whined. "I did everything I could."

"You did," Pura answered. At least Timka was still in the line of succession. "This doesn't mean we have to return to the winter campgrounds, does it?"

"Oh, no no no no no! You'll be staying with us. Absolutely! You're still part of our pack."

Pura smiled a bit at that. At least their fortune was made, just as her mother had predicted. And maybe someday…

"I told you we couldn't trust them," Timka said.

"Wolf did everything he could," Pura said.

"I know he did. But Queen Red could have insisted. Matilde too. They didn't object at all."

"They did what they could," Wolf said.

"That's not true."

"There are still many who don't want us to get ahead," Pura told her son. She was older and understood better what even this little advancement meant to her people. "We have to show them how noble we are."

"Noble?" a male voice called out derisively behind them. It was Barron. He was waiting for Felicity who was still blocked within the Guest Box by Wolf and Virginia as they stood by their nephew. "A wolf? Noble? The only reason you have these exalted titles is because Snow White fixed it. Heaven knows why. My family never did anything to her. But I wish now that we'd never allowed her to step in ahead of us." He stared menacingly at Virginia. "To think. The daughter of that whorish witch the Evil Queen should be placed in the line of succession before me. How many people did your mother kill? Does anyone even know? And how many people has that husband of yours killed? If I had my way, that abomination of yours would never be born!" And with that, he reached out and shoved Virginia hard, causing her to crumble into Wolf's arms.

The people standing around them were stunned. They couldn't believe that Barron, as unpleasant as he was, would move against an obivously pregnant woman. Wolf was too worried over his wife to do or say anything. Timka's eyes turned yellow at this insult to his family, but his mother's hand kept him in place.

Before anyone could think what to do next, Matilde's cane flew out of Virginia's hand into the air and slammed down over Barron's head and shoulders, beating him back over chairs and onto the hall's platform. Barron called for help, but everyone was so surprised at this new development that they still couldn't react. The cane pushed and hit and pummeled till Barron didn't have the breath to even call out.

"Enough!" Matilde called from across the room. She held out her hand for the cane and hoped it would come to her.

Raphaela paused for a moment in mid-air, considering. Then she decided she'd made her point and flew into her mother's hand.

Felicity rushed over to her brother and dabbed at his face with the fox edging on her cape. "Help! Help! We need a doctor!" she called.

It was a good thing all the Fifth Kingdom Commoners had left the building by that time or there would have been an impromptu demonstration.

Queen Cinderella called for a doctor and ordered everyone to give Barron room to breath.

"What happened?" Leaf Fall asked, running over to Virginia. Her young Second was still standing in shock in the arms of her husband.

"He attacked Virginia," Timka said. "He pushed her."

"Matilde's cane flew out of her hand to protect her," Wolf said.

"I didn't know it was capable of that," Leaf said. "Matilde must have put a protection spell on it because of all the trouble lately." Then she turned to the rest of the room and started taking control. "All right, everybody," she said clapping her hands for attention. "Barron got a little physical toward Princess Virginia and the protection spell Matilde put on her cane went into action. We'll take care of everything. The meeting's over. I'm sure Queen Cinderella has prepared a big feast. Let's move on." Then she walked over to Barron who was now lying across his sister's lap. "Duke Dragon-Slayer," she said, her wings fluttering furiously, "if you ever lay a hand on my Second again, I'll consider it a direct attack against the Seventh Kingdom. We don't use our dungeons anymore. But I can have them opened just for you."

Matilde was still standing in shock near her podium, holding the cane as if she'd never seen it before. Which in a way she hadn't. Raphaela had never done anything like this before.

"Is everything all right?" King Eranthis of the dwarves asked.

"Yes, yes. I just need to go tighten up the spell on my cane," Matilde said breathlessly. Then she fled to one of the small rooms just outside the hall. They usually served as offices for various members of the legislature, but no one was there that day in order to give the Council more space.

Matilde locked the door and drew the drapes so no one could see. Then she held up the cane. "What were you doing?" she demanded. "The room was full of people. You could have been found out!"

The cane pulled free of Matilde's hand.

"Don't you float away from me, young lady! What you did was very dangerous!"

The cane came to a stop and began to glow. It was a small light at first, but it strengthened and spread out beyond the twisted form of the dead vine until it took on the slightly transparent image of a platinum haired young woman in a white gown.

Matilde gasped.

"I was saving this as a surprise," Raphaela said.

"A surprise! How? When?"

"About a month ago. Even though I'm not technically alive, my powers seem to be increasing as I get older."

"Your grandmother was very powerful when she transformed you. She used the power of the crystal as well, though I don't know how. She always said it was greater than any of us guessed."

"I've been wanting to tell you about this, but we haven't been together much."

Since Matilde could see through Raphaela's form, she knew she wasn't solid. Yet she still reached out to touch her daughter's image. Raphaela reached out as well and their hands seemingly blended together in the space between them as they tried to make contact.

"I can't touch or move anything in this form," Raphaela said, pulling her hand back. "And I can only stand in one place and do this for a few minutes at a time. It weakens me, but I'm sure I'll get better at it."

"Tony would call this a projection. In his world, they have machines that do that. The people look real, but they are not. I assume you are doing something of the same through magic." Matilde shook her head. "I don't know what to say."

"Tell me you're glad to see me."

"You know I am. It's wonderful to be able to talk to you outside of a dream. I only wish I could touch you, to hold my little girl again." Matilde's eyes teared up. "You've got to be very careful now. You can't let anyone know about this."

"But Mazarin is gone."

"Yes, but we didn't get all of his followers. What if one of them realizes who you are and…"

"Mother, you worry too much. You can't keep me like Rapunzel living in a prison of white wood. Can't you see? The more powerful I am, the less I have to fear. I have my own destiny, beyond being a healer. And I'm starting to realize what it is. I think I'm meant to be a fairy godmother. I just need to build up a bit more power."

Matilde nodded. In their world being a fairy godmother was an important duty. "To who? To Virginia?"

"No. I'm trying to help her with something, but I don't think my destiny lies with her. She's going to need a lot of help soon. The birth of her child is going to bring up many painful things."

"I'll do what I can. You know that. At least she's starting to get used to the idea of Tony and I being together."

"Yes. I can feel that."

"Are you?"

Raphaela paused at the question. "I'm not against Tony, if that's what you mean. In fact, I like him better than Centaurea. He's more real. Centaurea was all about being the great king of the elves doing great things for his kingdom and everybody else's. He wanted you to be the great queen working by his side. He was all image. There was nothing real about him."

"Centaurea believed in his destiny."

"I know. In fact, his great and noble destiny was pretty much the only thing he believed in. The first time you put me into his hands to help him heal from one of his war wounds, I saw that. Yes, he was brave and he had his calling. But there wasn't any warmth in him. I know everyone venerated him, especially after he died. But I never cared for him. Centaurea had you so taken in with his great destiny, that when you didn't have an obvious mission after Mazarin was gone, you started turning into a hermit instead of living. At least Tony lives. He complains a lot…but he lives. He's brought you into the world again. You no longer spend most of your time cloistered up in the Ice Palace, only coming out to oversee Council meetings. That frees me as well, to live in my own way."

"Maybe. But I still think you should be careful. At least until you gain more power. Until appearing like this doesn't weaken you."

"I can do that. It makes sense. But you can't put this off forever, Mother. Our destinies are growing apart."

"I know."

"That doesn't mean I don't love you."

"I love you too. It's just always hard for a mother to see her child leave home."

Raphaela smiled in understanding. Her power was growing weaker and she felt she couldn't talk anymore. She let her image dim till it receded back into the twisted white vine that had been both her home and prison for so long.

"People will wonder where we are," Matilde said, reaching out.

A cane once more, Raphaela glided silently into her mother's open hand.

When Matilde left the building she was greeted by a fierce blast of wintry air that tried to grab the door from her hand. Despite the early afternoon hour, the sky had gotten very dark. A heavy snow mixed with sleet was rushing down to cover the cobblestones.

Matilde's carriage driver came to her at once with a cape to protect her from the weather.

"It looks like quite a storm," Matilde said, shouting against the wind.

"Yes, your majesty. It came up suddenly."

"It reminds me of the magical storms in our old tales."

"Queen Cinderella told me to tell you that she is keeping Princess Virginia at her castle for the night. The princess was very upset by Duke Dragon-Slayer and she isn't feeling well."

"I'd better get my cane to her."

"At once," the carriage driver said.

- - - - - - - - - -

On Hunter's Island, the evil wizard Mazarin stood before a magic mirror with his consort Zafira beside him. They were chanting a spell in unison with their followers scattered around the edges of the Nine Kingdoms.

"Come darkness, snow, and wintry blast

A blizzard now this spell does cast.

Bitter cold and icy stings,

This is what our circle brings."

As they chanted, Mazarin's mirror showed the various faces of his followers as they were reflected in their own mirrors, changing constantly from one to the other. They had been chanting for the better part of an hour, willing the whole of the Nine Kingdoms to be covered with darkness and snow.

"Enough!" Mazarin said at last. "Mirror! Where has our snow fallen?"

The shining surface of the mirror went dark for a moment. Then it revealed the snow covered castle of Cinderella just as Matilde's carriage was driving up to it. "Your snow has fallen over all of the First Kingdom," the mirror answered in a high pitched voice. "And it's moving over more and more of the Fourth."

"How long will it last?"

"At least two hours," the mirror answered.

"Did you hear that?" Mazarin asked his followers.

"Yes!" they answered in unison.

"It's not enough!" Mazarin roared. "It's not nearly enough! We must build our power so that we can cast a spell over all of the Nine Kingdoms. We must work and work and work some more! Next week we will call up another storm that will fully cover both kingdoms. Then next month we must cover half of the Nine Kingdoms. And soon after, all of it! When we are strong enough to influence the weather for all of the Nine Kingdoms for several days, we will begin our curse. It is a much simpler spell, but it has to work for a very long time and continue on its own."

"Yes, Master!" Mazarin's followers answered, as if they were one person.

The picture was still on Cinderella's castle. Matilde was just going inside.

"I see she isn't with her new fool of a husband," Mazarin said.

"No," Zafira answered, hoping they were not going to get into this again. When they'd heard it confirmed that Tony and Matilde were getting married, Mazarin had searched Tony out on his magic mirror to see what he looked like. Now whenever the subject of Lord Tony or Queen Matilde came up he went into the same tirade.

"I don't see why you or those trolls think this Tony Lewis looks like me. He has the weak face of a fool. I am NOT a fool!"

"Of course not, Master," Zafira said with a bow. "You are great and powerful. And I don't think you look like him at all. It was the trolls who said that. You're much more handsome."

"Yes, I am. This Tony has a weak chin and fading hair. He talks like an egotistical simpleton. And his nose! It's the nose of a hog. He pretends to be an inventor. Hah! I know what he really wants. He wants to be a wizard like me. But of course he can't be one because he has no magic. So he pretends to be an inventor. He should be punished for his insolence!"

"He will be, Master. He will suffer the curse just as everyone else will."

"Yes. And he will see his new wife be one of the first to fall under it."


	17. Chapter 17 The Tie That Binds

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**The Tie That Binds**

When word got out that Wolf had spoken before the Council on behalf of his nephew, his position as leader of the wolves was reaffirmed. Once again they began to visit him. This time, however, it was not to cheer him as they had just before The Giant War. Now they wanted him to settle differences between them and lobby for certain things with the Council. Several groups came and went every day. Wendell gave Wolf the ballroom as a meeting place so they could come and go easily. At that point a lot of winter storms were blanketing various parts of the Nine Kingdoms. The wolven visitors were often damp and weather weary. Herbert the perfect butler had to station four members of the housekeeping and serving staff in the entry hall in order to take care of the constantly arriving guests and erase the endless muddy foot prints.

Rose said the ballroom served well as a temporary meeting place, but that they needed something more, something that would be particularly devoted to the wolves. "We need a Wolf Hall," she said, "something with many windows and doors so that it will feel open and spacious."

Wendell suggested building something just down the road from the castle at the edge of a large daisy field so the meetings could be held outside if the weather permitted. Tony started working on plans for it immediately and promised to have his workmen begin it as soon as the weather got warmer. That is, if it ever got warmer. At that point it felt as if the snow season might last forever.

All the talk of a Wolf Hall made Wolf feel as if his new job as a wolf adjudicator would be permanent. He was uncomfortable with the idea at first, but it seemed to be something destiny was handing him. It was certainly better than being king or something stuffy like that. For the first time since the war he had a destiny of his own, just as Virginia had her growing position as Leaf Fall's Second. The wolves liked him because he didn't use any of the trappings of human royalty. He met with them on a personal level, sitting directly in their midst dressed casually in a dark blue jacket. He preferred to be called only Wolf, but the wolves tended to use his prince title anyway. Although there were a few soldiers present to keep order, they were all wolven troops that acted as casually as their leader.

Despite the weather, Timka also started getting visitors. The gypsies in the winter camp soon heard of his new position as royalty and a few members of his father's adoptive family came to see what benefit he might be to them. Since they said they were relatives, Herbert the perfect butler escorted them directly into the castle and arranged for them to meet with Timka and his mother in one of the sitting rooms at the back of the building, away from the hubbub of the wolf meetings.

Pura was thrilled. This was just what she had been hoping for. The last great king of the gypsies had died not long after Snow White. Since then most of the caravans had resisted the idea of following one leader. Pura hoped her son's new position might change all that. If Timka became king of the gypsies, she planned to serve as the tie between her son and his people. With their new contacts it was well within the realm of possibility. At last the gypsies would have some power.

Pura was glad she was wearing a casual gown, for not even a gypsy queen should be overdressed. She gave herself a smile as she smoothed back her ample salt and pepper hair. Then she went down to greet her in-laws. As she entered the room, she stood as tall as possible with her shoulders back in order to show dignity. But she moved with a relaxed step and offered her visitors a friendly smile, so she didn't appear arrogant.

"I've ordered tea," Pura said, "and sandwiches. You must be hungry from the road."

Offering food was an important gesture of hospitality for the gypsies. Even enemies were fed.

I remember you," Pura said to the oldest member of the group. "You're Bertram. You were at my wedding. But I'm afraid I don't remember the rest of you."

"That's me…Bertram," the man in question answered. He was wearing a faded green jacket and twisting a damp green hat in his hands. "I'm Wilhelm's cousin."

"You mean his adopted cousin," Pura said. She wanted to remind him that he didn't have the full claim of a family member.

"Yes…adopted cousin. I grew up with Wilhelm and his adopted brother. I used to watch over them when they were little. Kept them out of trouble."

"How is the rest of your family?"

"Good and bad. Wilhelm's adopted brother had a new baby. That's the good. But Wilhelm's mother is gone…adopted mother that is. She died last spring. That's the bad."

"I heard about her passing. Tell her son that I'm sorry."

"Yes, your Grace. I will. They're at the winter camp grounds as usual. They couldn't travel up to see you because of the new baby. But they send you their best…your Grace."

"Won't you take off your coats and sit down," Pura said with a gracious wave of her hand. "When the butler comes I'll have him take your things to a place where they can dry out."

"Oh, thank you, your Grace." Bertram gestured to the rest of his family. And immediately they started to unwrap themselves.

Bertram's wife collected the coats of the others. Their twenty-two year old son had come with them, as well as Bertram's brother, and his wife. They looked in wonderment at the richness of the room with its light colored furnishings and marble statuary. Timka came in just as they were testing out the gold settee and matching chairs.

Timka looked every bit like Wilhelm's son. His dark hair was uncombed and his eyes were narrow and full of distrust. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Bertram leapt to his feet and offered an uncertain smile. "We came to visit you. I was your father's adopted cousin. I'm Bertram and this is my wife and…"

"You heard about the Council meeting?" Timka broke in.

"Yes. We did. We tried to visit you at the winter camp grounds and…"

"Liar. None of your family ever visits us."

"Uh…most of the time we don't. We know that you and your good mother like to be alone. But we thought we should congratulate you on your good fortune and…"

"Get out!" Timka yelled.

"Timka!" Pura said. "They are family."

"No they're not. They stole my father from his real family and abandoned us when he died."

Bertram opened and closed his mouth as he struggled for something to say.

"What are you waiting for?" Timka demanded. "I told you to get out."

"But…your mother ordered tea and…"

"I said, get out!" Timka pulled Bertram out from behind the gleaming white coffee table and flung him toward the door.

Bertram saw the yellow glow in Timka's eyes and remembered how nasty his father Wilhelm's temper had been. He had once bitten Bertram in a dispute over a shoe lace. If the son was anything like the father…"Yes. Perhaps we should go. Come, come," he said waving to his wife.

"No, please," Pura said.

"And you can tell the rest of my father's kidnappers to stay away too!" Timka yelled. "We don't owe you anything!"

Bertram opened the door and pushed his family through. They never stopped to look back or slow down.

"What have you done?" Pura said, rounding on her son.

"I gave them what they deserved. They've never given us anything. Until I was old enough to hunt you were barely able to put food on our table. They didn't even offer us their leftovers. They have no right to come here, hoping to share in our good fortune."

Herbert the perfect butler chose that moment to enter with a tray of tea things and a maid in tow. He had seen the fleeing gypsies and had a pretty good idea what had happened. But propriety commanded him to continue through on his orders. "Madam?" he asked politely. "You asked for refreshments."

"We won't need them," Pura said.

"As you wish."

"Herbert," Timka said. "If any other gypsies come looking for a handout you can send them away too."

Herbert nodded discretely and led the maid out of the room. Timka closed the door after them.

"You don't have the right to decide these things," Pura said.

"Yes, I do. Those people are not my family."

"But they are gypsies."

"I'm not a gypsy. I'm a wolf!"

"You are both! You are just as much mine as your father's. More…because I raised you. Your father was not easy to live with. He was always making accusations, picking fights. He earned the dislike of his adopted family. And now you're doing the same thing. Now…when we have so many possibilities."

"I don't want anything to do with them after the way they treated us."

"And how did they treat us? Despite the danger to your father's caravan, they hid him and his brother when the soldiers came looking for wolf cubs after they burned your grandparents. Then they protected your father when his brother was murdered merely for showing interest in a human girl. And they protected both of us when your father was killed. When your Aunt Rose came asking about her brothers they told her nothing about us because it was around the time when wolves were being banned from the Second kingdom. They thought she might be a spy. As you say, they never gave us leftovers. But they gave us protection. Gypsies do not betray their own kind. Can wolves say as much? I've seen several of them lately who disagree bitterly with your Uncle Wolf."

"They disagree with him, but they don't try and hurt him.

"That is because he is surrounded by soldiers."

"I've seen gypsies take a knife to each other."

"Yes, I know. Your father was often in the center of those fights. Heed my word. One day you will need those gypsies that just left here. And because of what you did they will spurn you."

"I don't need them," Timka insisted.

"And how do you know that?" Pura asked. "Do you have the gift of sight now?"

"They were only planning on using us."

"Yes, and we would have used them as well. Each would have benefited. We have some money now, some influence. We could get even more with their help. Why shouldn't they benefit as well?"

"They aren't my family anymore. Wolf is my family now."

"And what am I? Am I not your family? Make no mistake. I like the way Wolf sits in the middle of his people. He looks like a gypsy king, giving out judgment. You sit by his side as if you were the heir to his throne. But soon his son will be born. And then, you will only be his nephew. You must plan for that day. I have heard Wolf talk about the power of the wolf pack. Gypsies think in the same way. You could have had great power with both the gypsies and the wolves at our side. But instead you choose to deny half of yourself. Foolish child!" Pura turned away and swept toward the door. "Perhaps you are no longer a gypsy, but I am. I will see anyone who wishes to see me, whether you deny them or not."

"I forbid it!"

Pura looked back at Timka with dark eyes. "I am a gypsy. I call no one master. Least of all my son." And she marched out of the room. Timka called after her, but she didn't look back.

- - - - - - - - - -

Pura kept her promise and entertained the few gypsies who chanced the growing bad weather to visit them. Timka kept even closer to Wolf.

The anti-wolf uprisings had largely stopped by then because of the growing storms, but still the wolves that came to see Wolf were nervous. He spent much of his time trying to calm their fears. A small band of dissenters came to him one day, urging him to pull away from the humans and form a separate kingdom dedicated only to wolves.

"There really isn't any place in the Nine Kingdoms that is open," Wolf said sensibly. "Unless we took over Hunter's Island of course.

"Hunter's Island is too small," the lead dissenter said. His name was Camus. He was a full-blooded brown wolf with a spotted white snout. If they don't give us a kingdom, we will take it," he snapped.

The full moon was approaching and everyone was a bit on edge. Wolf knew he needed to show the strength of an alpha wolf. "If we went against the whole of the Nine Kingdoms we would lose," Wolf said with a snarl. "Look what happened to the trolls. And they had several giants on their side. We'd probably end up in a worse position than we were in before. At least now we've proven our worth to them. Now we have a chance. I say we take it!"

Camus wrinkled his spotted snout in disgust. "Your grandfather Scythian would have said differently. I met him once when I was a cub. I listened to him speak about how we could never fit in with humans. He would have agreed with me!"

"Scythian is gone!" Wolf said.

"Maybe. But I've heard that his ghost lives on. Some say he haunts the Deadly Swamp near the cottage of the Swamp Witch."

"Huff-puff! Even in death, he trots at the heels of Snow White's stepmother. What did he ever do for our people?"

Most of the wolves agreed with Wolf. Scythian's friendship with Snow White's Stepmother hadn't gotten them anything.

Camus knew he had lost this round. His eyes glowed yellow as he slunk off to a far corner of the ballroom, back into the midst of the few wolves who agreed with him.

Another full-blooded wolf called Rubin followed. He was dark gray, very idealistic and very young. In fact, he wasn't much older than Timka. "I've heard of Scythian," he whispered to Camus. Rubin had always been enamored of Scythian because he never accepted defeat on anything. "Has his ghost really been seen in the Deadly Swamp?"

"That's what some say," Camus answered, glancing back at Wolf. The other wolves in his circle nodded gravely. "Everyone's listening to this one now. But he's still young. He hasn't seen all that I have seen. I'm not convinced he has enough intelligence or guile to call himself a true wolf."

- - - - - - - - - -

There were a lot of wolves present at the next full moon hunt. Many of Wolf's followers had stayed on just for the occasion and of course the Fourth Kingdom's wolf troops had been quartered nearby. As darkness fell, the winter woods around Wendell's castle was alive with prancing wolf feet.

Timka couldn't keep up with any of the wolf packs because he couldn't see in the dark better than a human. But Wolf showed him how to get around that.

"If you can't keep up with the rest of the pack," Wolf said, pulling his nephew off to the side, "then you have to make your own way. A running wolf pack makes a lot of noise. It needs speed to win the hunt because the bigger animals hear them coming and take off immediately, giving them a good head start. The smaller animals stay where they are or return to nearby burrows for everything is silent for a while. Those are the animals we'll look for." Wolf led the way off the main path. "Make sure you go off a good distance so you can distinguish the scent of the other wolves from the scents of the smaller animals. Right about here would be good." He stopped and waved his nephew ahead of him. "Now, you lead the way. Move as quietly and slowly as you can. When you scent something, nod to me."

As it happened, Timka scented out a good sized rabbit warren and they managed to catch a couple of bucks as they tried to escape out a back entrance.

"These will make a good stew," Wolf said, tying the two rabbits together. With a cub on the way, he instinctively preferred to take his prey home instead of eating it immediately. This seemed fine with Timka.

They stood for a while looking at the moon in a snowy clearing, just enjoying the cold and the feel of a successful hunt.

"Do wolves betray their own kind?" Timka asked, remembering the angry wolf named Camus.

"Wolves in a family will fight for dominance," Wolf said, his eyes still hypnotically on the moon, "especially if the alpha wolf becomes old or feeble and needs to be deposed. Wolves believe only the strongest should lead."

"Do they ever fight to the death?"

"In a family? No. Occasionally maybe, but hardly ever. The pack survives because they depend on each other. Wolves generally only kill each other in fights between wolf packs."

"Would a wolf betray another wolf to someone who wasn't a wolf?"

Wolf looked at his nephew, the lines in his forehead deepening. "Not usually, but it happens."

"My mother says gypsies never betray each other to an outsider."

"It would be very nice if that were true," Wolf said with a sigh. "But there are some people who will betray anyone if the price is high enough. It doesn't matter what they call themselves."

"Do you think the wolves should try and get a kingdom of their own?"

"You're thinking about what that brown wolf said, right? The one with the spotted nose? It sounds like an easy solution. But look how bad things went for Cousin Red when she tried to make her kingdom exclusive. She lost everything. We don't want to end up like that."

To the south a wolf's howl went up. It was a call to the moon goddess, thanking her for the joy of the hunt. It was soon answered by a pack of wolves to the east.

"Hear that?" Wolf asked. He was wearing a heavy coat, but his tail wagged free at the back. "There's nothing like a good howl on a cold night. The sound carries so well." Wolf howled to the wolf chorus and they answered back, urging him to join in. "Go on, try it," he urged his nephew.

Timka took a deep breath. "Ahwooo!"

"That's it! Wolves in a pack get to where they can recognize the howls of their family and communicate over long distances. A wolf can never be alone as long as he can hear that." "Owwwwooo!"

Timka's eyes gleamed yellow with understanding and he sang out again. "Owwooo!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Virginia sat alone in her room looking out at the moon, listening to the sound of the howling wolves. She knew her husband was out there somewhere, but she couldn't pick his voice out from the others. There didn't seem to be much reason to go to sleep. She knew Wolf would return from the hunt hungry for other kinds of exercise. And she was looking forward to it.

Still, she felt very much alone, even though the singing ring was singing a soft melody to her.

"For a fair maiden's love he gave so much," the ring sang

"His position and home he left for her touch.

Their love was deep, but time took her away.

So he waits and hopes she'll return some day.

"So sing to the griffin that flies through the sky,

Or the unicorn who may run or swim by,

If you see this man's maid, let them know right away,

For he's waiting and hoping she'll return some day."

"That was a sad song," Virginia said to the ring. "All about lost love, and a home left behind, and someone that may never return."

It reminded Virginia of many things in her own life. After all, she'd left her home to be with Wolf. She'd grown to love the Nine Kingdoms, but she still missed New York sometimes. And she'd even left someone behind…her grandmother. It was bad enough that her grandmother had been abandoned by her mother without explanation. Now Virginia was essentially doing the same thing all over again. She didn't like acting like her mother. It had been a long time since she and Wolf had been in New York. Virginia hadn't even told her grandmother that she was pregnant or engaged. She'd been far too upset by her refusal to accept that her mother was dead. And of course there was the problem about Wolf's trying to eat her. How would she ever explain that?

Virginia ran her hand over her growing stomach as the singing ring began the song again.

"For a fair maiden's love he gave so much,

"His position and home he left for her touch.

Their love was deep, but time took her away.

So he waits and hopes she'll return some day.

"So sing to the griffin that flies through the sky,

Or the unicorn who may run or swim by,

If you see this man's maid, let them know right away,

For he's waiting and hoping she'll return some day."

It wasn't right, Virginia thought. Her grandmother was waiting and hoping that she and her mother would return some day. Didn't her grandmother have a right to know that Virginia had married and that she was about to be a great-grandmother?

She had to go back. She had things to ask her grandmother and things to tell her. Maybe her last trimester would be a good time to go. According to Rose, the queasiness would be over by then and the feelings of well being would begin. She was going to need lots of good feelings if she was going to see her grandmother.

- - - - - - - - - -

Nothing had changed much on the beach of the North Sea. The male fairy with the blond hair and iridescent wings and the old witch still came everyday to watch over the three diving goblins. It was cold, but there wasn't any snow there. The recent storms that had been hitting the Nine Kingdoms had passed this area by.

The magical duo and the diving goblins were getting more and more irritated with each other. The fairy and the witch kept insisting that the goblins were intentionally wasting time. And the goblins kept insisting that they were moving as quickly as possible.

Clayface still came everyday to see what they were searching for. After all, what else did he have to do? He sat in the shelter of the dunes in Relish's invisibility shoes, trying to let his clairvoyant powers speak through his carving. He was still hoping it would tell him what was going on.

Late one afternoon after the others had left for the day, Clayface saw the white sea unicorn with the glowing silver horn. It came out from behind a sand dune further up the beach and looked up into the sky as it walked into the surf. Just then the shadow of a great winged creature passed overhead. Clayface looked up to see what it was, but it was soaring too high. The sea unicorn whinnied loudly at the winged creature as if it were calling to it, then it disappeared into the waves. The winged creature left too, but Clayface felt as though it were still around somewhere, watching.

On the morning after the full moon, Clayface came to watch the magical duo and the diving goblins as usual. He was nearing the end of his carving by then. It was a bearded wizard in long robes standing with an upraised cane in front of strange city with very tall buildings. All it needed was a face.

In the afternoon, the three goblins came up out of the sea with a large mirror. Clayface put aside his carving at once. The goblins were very excited, chattering among themselves as they shook off the icy water.

"You've found it!" the male fairy said, racing toward them.

The old witch couldn't move as quickly through the sand because of her cane and heavy winter clothing.

"We almost didn't get it," the head goblin said. "There was a sea unicorn! He fought us for it."

"A sea unicorn?" the fairy asked, his iridescent wings twitching in the wind. "There aren't too many of them anymore. Was he guarding the mirror?"

"Yes. I'll bet he's been moving it. Making it hard for us to find in all those caverns."

Clayface couldn't help but go closer. The mirror looked as if it had been carefully maintained. There was no seaweed growing on its frame, no algae on its shining surface.

"Isn't it beautiful?" the head goblin asked. "Worth every bit you're paying us."

A sly look passed between the witch and the fairy.

"It's time you were paid," the fairy said. He reached for a bag that was hanging at his waist.

At the same time, the old witch reached for something inside of her clothing, something that would incapacitate the three goblins as soon as it was thrown.

"A bonus might be nice," the head goblin said. "We didn't agree to fight any sea uni…"

But he was cut off by a loud call from what sounded like a very large, very angry bird. Its voice pierced the air as the shadow of its wings stretched over them.

Instinctively Clayface stepped back. On some level he forgot that he was invisible. But the attacking creature wasn't interested in goblins anyway. It swooped out of the sky and tried to grab the mirror in its paws.

"A griffin!" the head goblin yelled. And he and his two cohorts dropped the mirror and ran for their lives into the sand dunes. No one had seen a griffin in a very long time. This creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion was very frightening.

Because the mirror fell forward into the sand, the griffin missed it and had to pull up into the air again to make a second strike. This gave the witch time to finish pulling out the magic dust she had meant to use on the goblins. She threw it at the griffin as it tried to take off with the mirror. Its great beak opened and closed a few times as it choked. Then it fell into a pile of fur and feathers.

The fairy and the witch paused for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened.

"A griffin?" the fairy said. "I thought they had all died out."

"Evidently not," the witch said, poking one of the creature's powerful hind legs with her cane.

The griffin choked once more and shifted onto its side in a deep sleep.

"Should we send it to the Master along with the mirror?"

The witch's long nose came down to meet her chin. "No. He's obviously not on our side and I doubt we could control him. Better to dump him into the water as we planed to do with the goblins. Let the sea take him."

The fairy and the witch combined their powers and rolled the sleeping griffin into the waves, where he quickly disappeared from sight. Without another thought, the two took up the mirror between them and disappeared in a flash of traveling dust.

Clayface looked out to sea wondering what to do. Such a wonderful creature shouldn't die. He slipped off his invisibility shoes and tucked his carving into them. Sometimes when the shoes got wet they got temperamental. He dived into the surf with the intention of searching for the griffin. But as the ground fell away he saw the white sea unicorn moving toward the shore with the griffin's tail in his mouth. Clayface knew the unicorn would never be able to drag it far on land by itself. So, he gave the unicorn a wave and took hold of the griffin's forepaws.

The unicorn understood. This goblin wasn't one of the three who had attacked him earlier and taken the mirror. He had to take the chance of trusting him. Together they pulled the griffin up onto the sand and into a sheltered spot between two dunes.

"You'll take care of him?" Clayface asked panting.

The sea unicorn nodded its silver horn. It did not have the gift of speech to the extent that the griffin did.

"Sorry you lost your mirror," Clayface said. For obviously they had both been guarding it.

The unicorn nodded again and started to nuzzle its fallen friend.

Clayface returned to his invisibility shoes and pulled out his carving. He'd finally finished the face. He didn't know what it meant, but to him it looked like Tony Lewis. What does he have to do with all this, Clayface wondered.

The only way to find out was to journey to the Fourth Kingdom to see Tony.

- - - - - - - - - -

The Master wants to see us," Bluebell said in his scratchy voice.

"Oh, tell Mazarin the Weird, to go Suck an Elf," Burly said. "This is supposed to be our break time." Burly was stretched out in front of a fairy fire in what was supposed to be his room. It was really a sitting room on the second floor of the hunting lodge. But it made Burly feel better about being reduced to servitude, knowing that he had a bigger bedroom than Mazarin. The other trolls had chosen rooms on the same floor as well. But Burly's had become an unofficial meeting room because of its size and central location. On the walls were several boar heads and skins, along with some bones arranged into what looked like three magic mushrooms. It was trolls version of art.

"I don't think he'll accept that excuse," Bluebell said, closing the double doors of the room behind him. "He's got that wild-eyed look."

"Oh, that always means trouble," Blabberwort agreed. She was putting the finishing touches on a new pair of boots. They weren't up to her usual standards, because boar leather was better suited to the soles of shoes rather than their tops. But boar leather was all they had. "He always gets that look just before he uses magic to throw us up against a wall."

Burly sat up. "What does he want to see us about?"

"A delivery he just got.

"What kind?"

"A mirror. A winged fairy and a witch brought it. They didn't say much. They just bowed to the Master and Mistress a couple of times and left by traveling dust. I didn't think much about it at first. But as soon as they were gone, the Master turned something on the mirror and I saw our Tenth Kingdom…the one we claimed for the troll nation."

His siblings were on their feet now.

"No!" Blabberwort said.

"And I was so surprised I said, 'That's where that girl Virginia comes from.'"

"You said what?" Burly roared. "I thought we agreed to act dumb about that place?"

"It just sort of slipped out."

"What did Mazarin say then?" Blabberwort asked.

"He turned on me in that slow way he has and he asked me how I knew that. And I told him the Evil Queen showed the mirror to us while we were working for her."

"Which is true," Blabberwort said.

"He wants to question us about it."

"All right," Burly said, "But we can't tell him that we've been there or that we claimed it for the troll nation."

"Right!" Blabberwort said. "It's ours."

"We don't want him horning in on our kingdom. Let him take over the Nine Kingdoms if he wants to. The Tenth belongs to us. It may just take us a while to claim it."

When the trolls came down to the great hall near the entrance of the hunting castle they found Mazarin and Zafira standing in front of the mirror. It still showed a vision of Central Park with a row of tall buildings behind it.

"What took you so long?" Mazarin asked gruffly.

"Sorry, your wizardliness," Blabberwort said, bowing. "We were sleeping."

"Yeah," Bluebell agreed, "Burly sleeps real soundly. We had a hard time waking him up."

"We finally had to hit him with a mallet," Blabberwort said.

Burly gave Mazarin a big smile and rubbed his head to back up their story.

"What do you need us for?" Blabberwort asked.

"Tell me everything you know about this mirror and the land beyond."

"There's not much to tell, your wizardliness. The Queen activated the magic in this mirror and told us she came from the land beyond. That Snow White's stepmother had contacted her there and brought her to the Nine Kingdoms to train her as her successor."

"And?"

"And that Tony Lewis and his daughter were led to the Nine Kingdoms by Wendell when he was a dog."

"And??"

"And that they'd broken the one that was in your old castle, and that she knew they would be coming to look for her mirror because it led to the same place."

"AND??"

Blabberwort winced and shuffled her feet. "And we guessed that after that brat Virginia killed the Queen, Wendell kept the mirror."

Blabberwort's brothers nodded vigorously.

"That's all you know?" Mazarin asked, fixing them with a fierce look that promised pain.

"Yes, we swear it!" the trolls said at once.

"Did you steal the mirror from King Wendell?" Burly asked.

"No. That would have aroused too much suspicion. I've got the third and last one."

"There were three of them?" Blabberwort asked.

"Yes." Mazarin turned away from them and lazily let his hand dip into the mirror's reflection, as if it were a reflecting pool. "It was near the beginning of Cinderella's reign and I was getting very bored with life. Matilde's mother was acting like Snow White in those days. She was a hopeless busybody, playing fairy godmother, bucking up various rulers and helping them put together orderly kingdoms. It wasn't at all the kind of world I was interested in. To keep busy I sent out spies. One of them was a dwarf inside Dragon Mountain. He told me that some romantic minded idiot had traded away his magic powers for a special kind of quicksilver that would allow him to search in another dimension for his one true love. The dwarves agreed to make the mirror he wanted, but they suggested they stretch the quicksilver out over three mirrors, in case of breakage. He took one to the North Sea and left the other two with the dwarves for safe-keeping. When Matilde's mother's spirit moved on, I stole one of them. I heard from my dwarf spy that the other was stolen as well. Evidently it was Snow White's stepmother. She and I never liked each other much. She didn't think big enough for my tastes. She was only interested in getting revenge on one or two people and taking over the Fourth Kingdom. I wanted total domination. Anyway, I used my mirror just once to see what it was like. But it only went to one place, to a land practically without magic, full of boring humans. I never went back. Isabella made better use of hers it seems, by finding herself a recruit."

"What are you going to do with it?" Bluebell asked.

"Are you going to get yourself some new recruits for your war against the Nine Kingdoms?" Burly asked eagerly.

"I told you. We're not going to wage war this time. I already did that and it failed. The only way to hurt the Nine Kingdoms effectively is through well applied magic. I will incapacitate the strongest first and leave the kingdoms to chaos."

"It might be fun to watch," Blabberwort said eagerly.

"But not much fun to be in," Bluebell said.

"No. That's why we're leaving…for this place." Mazarin spun his hand across the shimmering vision of Central Park.

The trolls exchanged looks of concern. Mazarin was going to take over their kingdom!

"I'd prefer to break through the ancient wall at the edge of the Fifth Kingdom and see what's there," Mazarin continued. "But the magic holding it in place is too strong. I'd really like to meet the being who created that barrier. He must be almost godlike. The combined magic of our coven can't even come close to damaging it. So, we will go here instead. I'm really looking forward to it. We'll have to make it over a bit, though. It's too stark for my taste."

"You're taking us too, right?" Burly asked.

"What?" Mazarin pulled his gaze away from the lights that were beginning to come on in the enormous buildings pictured in the mirror. His face was twisted in disgust. It was bad enough to be stuck in a land full of humans, but trolls. "No! Three members of my coven will remain on the island to oversee the curse. You'll be staying here to serve them. The less animals I have to deal with the better."

"But won't we be more useful to you in this new land?" Blabberwort asked.

"No. I'll have plenty of servants there. Hunter's Island will be the only place in the Nine Kingdoms free of the curse. We're going to use Princess Asha's magic barrier to keep things normal here. You will serve the three members of my coven who will remain behind to oversee things. Every now and again they will change places with some other members of my coven. But you will remain here."

"It's a lovely plan," Zafira said, speaking at last. She'd been standing silently and loyally by, in that servantly way that Mazarin secretly detested.

"Yes," Mazarin said, turning off the mirror. "The only thing that's bad about it is that I miss Baby."

Zafira's face hardened at the name of Mazarin's pet. She was beginning to feel like the dragon was a romantic rival. "I told you, Master, the presence of such a creature might give us trouble. What if it flew off and accidentally called attention to our presence here? The magic barrier the Ice Maidens put in won't contain a flying animal."

"She'll stay here if I tell her to," Mazarin said, pouting.

The trolls pulled back and exchanged knowing looks. Mazarin's obsession with the dragon was one of the things they thought was weird about him. The little altar that he sat in front of every night with the piece of jet, and the dragon's tooth, and the scrap of gray cloth was another.

"Mazarin, please. We've been over this," Zafira said.

"No! I'm the Master! If I want Baby here, then she's coming!"

"At least wait until the storms are greater and the Nine Kingdoms is more in chaos. Please."

Mazarin's mouth pursed into a hard button of obstinacy over his beard. "Well…maybe. But I'm not waiting any longer than that."

The troll children exchanged looks again and slipped out of the hall to go back to Burly's room.

"Just what we need," Burly whispered, "a dragon."

"Yeah," Bluebell agreed. "And they'll probably make us walk it."


	18. Chapter 18 Through the Mirror to Grandm...

- 198 -

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**Through the Mirror to Grandmother's House**

Virginia was pretty certain her father and Wolf wouldn't approve of her plans to visit her grandmother. So she put off telling anyone till they were all at dinner the next day. Usually dinner conversation centered on general matters concerning the Nine Kingdoms and she thought her plans would seem trivial in comparison.

"I know the uprisings have been fewer with the heavy snows," Matilda said as she stirred her tea, "but I was wondering perhaps if there was a reason why so many of them happened around The Disenchanted Forest. I know the Huntsman was a follower of the Queen and we're all glad he's gone. But he did keep order."

"The gypsies tell me they are afraid to go there now," Pura said, speaking for her people. "They say the hsigo and satyrs have taken over. Those creatures are bad luck."

Timka looked down at his plate and turned his uneaten vegetables over with his fork. He didn't care anything about The Disenchanted Forest or the hsigo and satyrs.

"Perhaps you should name a protector to the Forest," Matilde said to Wendell. "Someone who could keep order."

"I really have been thinking about that," Wendell said, taking the last bite of his veal.

"The wolf soldiers have nothing to do," Rose put in. "They could do it."

"I would still like to keep them closer to home," Wendell said, patting his wife on the hand.

"They need to do something," Rose insisted, her green eyes flashing. They have been idle too long. The full-blooded wolves can move quickly through the snow. Let Kobsa lead a battalion there." It was an impassioned plea from a seasoned general. Unfortunately the seasoned general was also wearing a flowery gown of green lace with green ribbons threaded through her hair. Her words would have come across more strongly if she'd been wearing her leather suit covered with dirt from a recent battle. But Lord Rupert had told Rose that a queen should dress in gowns in public and since she was still in confusion as to her job, she was following his advice. It was chafing her in more ways than one. If she couldn't be active, she at least wanted the wolf troops to be.

"Mmmm, I don't know," Wendell said. "Sending wolf troops to that area might create more problems. Let's see what develops after the spring thaw."

Rose fell silent, but it was clear she was angry.

Virginia thought this might be a good time for her to break in with her news. Surely a visit to her grandmother wasn't as exciting as the upheaval in the Disenchanted Forest. "I've decided to go visit my grandmother," she said, nibbling innocently on the custard the waiter had just brought.

Everyone looked at her, the previous topic of conversation completely forgotten.

"No!" Tony said, as if it were a proclamation.

"Yes," Virginia said, taking another spoon of custard. She didn't notice that no one else was eating.

"But…but…but…" Wolf sputtered.

"I have to go," Virginia said. "Grandma must be worrying about me by now. I didn't even tell her I was getting married or having a baby."

"No!" Tony repeated. "Wolf told me how much she upset you the last time you saw her."

Virginia looked sharply at Wolf who helplessly waved his spoon back and forth.

"I just think that considering the weather, and your condition, and the fact that you haven't been feeling well, you should stay here," Tony said.

"Gotta think of the cub," Wolf agreed.

"My third trimester will be starting soon. Rose said it will be easier for me then." Virginia's blue eyes fell pleadingly on her sister-in-law, urging her to back her up.

"Yes," Rose said. "She should feel much better and have lots of energy then. She won't need to carry Matilde's cane around anymore."

"See?" Virginia continued. "The winters are usually milder in Manhattan. And Mr. Murray has been keeping our old apartment as if it were a shrine. We'll have a place to stay and food to eat."

"What about Wolf?" Tony asked. "He tried to eat your grandmother the last time he saw her. What if she calls the cops on him?"

"Wolf can stay here. I'll go by myself."

Wendell and Rose exchanged looks. "If you'll excuse us, everyone," Wendell said, offering his hand to his wife. "I think we'll turn in early."

Pura nodded in agreement and got up as well.

Matilde and Timka stayed behind. Matilde because she felt her position as Tony's wife demanded her presence. And Timka because he felt that anything that had to do with Wolf had to do with him.

"No," Wolf said. "You are not going alone."

"I agree," Tony said.

"Fine! Then I'll go with Wolf. Whatever. But I'm still going." Virginia put her spoon down with a very loud clink. "I'll have another one of these!" she yelled to a passing waiter. Everyone else in the dining room turned around.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Tony asked, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"It runs in the family," Virginia said without looking at him.

"So what about Wolf? Are you going to try and introduce him to your grandmother?"

"Actually I have that figured out. The answer came to me in a dream."

"A dream," Tony scoffed.

"I have some pretty interesting dreams sometimes when I sleep with Matilde's cane. In this one Mom told me I could get around Grandma if I told her Wolf was a prince and that marrying him made me a princess."

Matilde quietly slipped her hand over Tony's. He got the hint. Raphaela was involved in this. And she wouldn't lead Virginia into anything she thought was dangerous.

"OK. That might work," Tony conceded. "If you tell her before she sees him. And you're both dressed in expensive clothing.

"I've also been thinking how I can get her to like you again too. If Magic Beer is still making money, we can get her a trust fund or something and say it's from you."

"What about your mother? You said she didn't believe your story about her being dead."

"I was hoping this time I might be able to convince her."

"She really did idolize your mother."

"I know."

Tony sighed. "Maybe if you play up how great a lady she was. Stuff like that. Give her something to cling on to."

"What if you get sick," Wolf asked. For truly, this was his main worry. He was afraid of being far away from his sister Rose's expertise as a wolf mid-wife. Who on the other side of the mirror would know what to do if there were any problems with her unusual pregnancy?

"Bring the cane with you," Matilde said. "It will protect you if you're in any danger and keep you well enough to get back here if you start to feel sick."

"Yes," Wolf said. "I'll feel a lot better if we bring the cane."

"Fine. If it you makes you feel better. I had been looking forward to not having to carry it anymore, except maybe for the occasional trip to the Seventh Kingdom. But I'll bring it for your sake. Where's that waiter!"

"Here," Tony said, shoving his untouched custard in front of his daughter. "I think you scared him off for good. It's not as if we have a shortage of untouched deserts here. No one else but you seems to have an appetite anymore."

Virginia took the custard and started eating.

"I'm sure Lord Rupert will be thrilled to dress you both up in rich looking clothes," Tony continued. "Anything from here will look old fashioned, but that won't bother your grandmother. Wear some real gaudy jewelry too and bring her some as a present. She'll be so busy trying to figure out your net worth, she won't be able to think of anything else."

"I want to go," Timka said. All the eyes at the table now switched to him.

"We won't be gone long," Wolf said. "This is just family stuff."

"I am family too."

"Yes, but…"

"Timka," Tony said, "believe me when I tell you, you really don't wanna meet my mother-in-law."

"But, it is a new land where I could learn new things. And Wolf is going."

"Not to stay," Wolf said. "Only for a couple of days at most. Look, it's a strange place and there's always the chance something could happen to you. You'll be safer here."

"But I want to come with you," Timka pouted.

"Maybe another time."

Anger came into the boy's dark eyes. He pushed back his chair and stormed off, feeling as if he'd been betrayed, which is how he always felt when someone didn't agree with him.

"I'm proud of you, Wolf," Virginia said. "You needed to start being firm with him."

Wolf turned back to his wife, his face full of concern. "Do you think he was very angry?" he whined. "I mean, very very angry? He's been hurt so much with his father dieing and all that. I don't want to add to that."

"He'll get over it," Virginia said dismissively. "Maybe not right away, but he will."

- - - - - - - - - -

After Virginia and Wolf fell asleep that night, Raphaela levitated from the corner by the closet where Virginia had left her and insinuated herself under her hand.

"Your mother wants to speak with you," Raphaela said, swirling out of the murky fog of Virginia's dreams.

Virginia was feeling good, not only physically, but mentally. The reflecting pool she usually sat in front of when she was lost in her own mind had been replaced by a circular garden of spring flowers. It was snowing lightly outside the castle that night, but she still had hopes of spring. The wall around her in her dream was much lower than usual too. When Christine appeared out of the mist, she found she was able to enter the circle and get closer to her daughter than she'd ever been able to before. She couldn't touch her, though. And Virginia still acted mostly as though she wasn't there.

"I hear you're going to see your grandmother," Christine said.

Virginia only nodded and picked a pink hyacinth from the flower bed in front of her.

"You've got to be very careful. Your father's right, you shouldn't let yourself get upset."

"It will be hard for her," Raphaela said, standing at a distance. "But she has to see her grandmother eventually. The sooner it is all gotten out of the way, the less damage it will do. I will go with her. They've made sure of that."

"Keep Raphaela close by your side," Christine told her daughter. "If Raphaela's there, I won't be far away either."

- - - - - - - - - -

Finally the leaving day arrived. Virginia felt her heart flutter as they stood in front of the traveling mirror, buttoning their coats and getting ready. Lord Rupert had provided them with clothing that he described as "rich and regal without being showy." Wolf wore a black suit with a crisp white shirt and black tie with a diamond stick pin. Virginia wore blue velvet and pearls. Their ensembles were topped off with long cashmere coats of gray and a few more pieces of jewelry paid for by Tony's continued work in boilers. With the particularly bad winter they'd been having, he was literally swamped with demand.

"Now, you be careful!" Tony said, cupping his daughter's face in his hands. "And keep Matilde's cane close to you, even if you don't feel you need it health-wise."

"I will."

"Make sure she eats right, Wolf."

"Is he kidding?" Wolf asked Matilde.

"And come right back to the mirror if you need anything. Matilde says we can't leave the mirror on all the time because someone might walk into it accidentally. But it will be on twice every day, first at noon and again at midnight for fifteen minutes at a stretch. Don't hesitate to come home if you don't feel well or if your grandmother gives you a hard time. Wolf, I'm depending on you to take care of her."

"Oh, you can count on me," Wolf said giving his father-in-law a wolf-sized hug.

"What your father said is very important," Matilde said patting her new stepdaughter's hand. "Keep my cane with you at all times. Be careful."

"We will," Virginia said.

"Don't worry. If anything happens, we'll come back right away," Wolf said. He leaned in and gave Matilde a quick peck on the cheek and she rewarded him with a hug.

Wendell and Rose had already said their goodbyes at breakfast. They'd wanted Tony and Matilde to be able to give them a private farewell.

Timka hadn't shown up for breakfast. Since the subject of the trip came up he'd been trying to talk Wolf into taking him. Many times Wolf had come close to saying yes. Then he'd imagined Virginia's reaction and somehow found the courage to say no. Pura had used the opportunity to tell him once again that he must accept things that would change when Wolf's son was born.

After one more hug between father and daughter, Matilde turned on the mirror.

"Goodbye!" Virginia called.

Wolf led the way through the mirror, carrying their one suitcase.

"Be careful!" Tony said.

"We will!" Virginia said as she stepped through.

In the twinkling of an eye, Wolf and Virginia found themselves in Central Park. It was a bright April morning, with absolutely no snow on the ground. The air was filled with the scent of defrosting earth.

"It smells like spring here," Virginia said, breathing deeply.

"Well, what shall we do first? Shall we go straight to your grandmother's and get that out of the way? Or shall we go to your old apartment and see how things are there?"

"I think we should go to the apartment first so you can get rid of the bag. I also need to get up my courage a bit before we see Grandma."

"Your wish is my command," Wolf said.

The old apartment building looked much the same, except that it now had a doorman sitting in the lobby. It surprised Virginia. She wondered if it meant anything.

"Hi!" Virginia said, to the dour looking doorman," My name is Virginia Lewis and I…"

"Oh, Miss Lewis!" The doorman's gloomy expression disappeared at once and he leapt to his feet. "Mr. Murray tells me every day to keep an eye out for you. He's quite devoted to your father. His whole family is, actually. They're always saying how wonderful he is and how they wish he'd come back for a visit. You just go right on in. Your apartment still has the same lock. I think Mr. Murray has been keeping everything in order for you."

"Thank you," Virginia said.

The apartment had been given a new coat of paint since the last time they'd been there. And a few new pieces of furniture had been added. The refrigerator was stocked again too, although Wolf set to work at once trying to change that.

"It's almost time for lunch," Wolf explained, pulling out packets of roast beef and some large rolls.

"Fine. You make lunch," Virginia said. "I'm going to see what else they've done with the place." Slowly she wandered through the apartment and back out into the livingroom. On a table near the door there was a series of pictures of her and her father in expensive looking frames. It looked like a shrine. "Maybe I should call Grandma to tell her I'm coming," Virginia thought out loud. Except…that was just as scary as going over unannounced. So she shook the idea out of her head.

"Lunch!" Wolf called out from the kitchen.

"Good."

"Well, it's sort of good. The roast beef isn't as rare as I'd like. But I'm too hungry to notice." And he immediately started forcing a roll into his mouth while still standing up. Anyone seeing him would never have guessed that he had eaten two stacks of pancakes and with three sides of bacon and four eggs a mere two hours before. "What do you want to drink?" he asked still chewing."

"Is there any soda?"

"Yes. But shouldn't you have milk?"

"I want soda."

"You should have milk," Wolf said pulling a quart sized carton out of the refrigerator and splashing some of its contents into her glass."

"Why do you bother even asking?"

"Because I love you. I want you to have a choice. But this isn't the time to drink soda water."

"I could have diet soda."

"You should have milk."

The argument might have gone on, but the doorbell rang just then.

"Aw! Just when we were enjoying our lunch," Wolf said, stepping over their traveling bag. He had abandoned it near the doorway to the kitchen when his mind switched to that all important subject of food.

"There's only one person it could be," Virginia said.

It was Mr. Murray of course, bowing and full of smiles. "The Master didn't come with you?" he asked expectantly.

"No, I'm afraid not," Virginia said, coming up behind Wolf.

"Oh…" Murray's expression became that of a disappointed child. "The doorman told me that, but I was still hoping. I wanted to show him the books of Magic Beer. I just know he'd be so pleased with the enterprise. Don't you think he'd be pleased??" Murray held out a pile of ledger books to Virginia. The last time she'd been there, there had only been one.

"It looks like business has been good," Wolf said.

"Very," Murray said. "We've begun selling out of state. In fact, things have been so good that we had to add an actual brewing plant. The Master's refrigerator couldn't keep up with the demand by itself."

"Wow," Virginia said.

"You don't think the Master will be angry? I mean, that we bought a brewing plant. I just didn't want him to lose business."

Virginia took the ledger books and started flipping through them. She whistled when she saw the numbers.

"Having no overhead to begin with and lots of product gave us a good start. Do you think the Master will be pleased??" Murray looked like a faithful dog begging to be scratched behind the ear.

"Yes," Virginia said. "He'd be very pleased. You know, I think my Grandmother will be even more pleased."

"She would? And that would please the master??" Murray's eyes lit up.

"Yes. It will make my father very happy." It wasn't exactly true. But if Virginia could get her Grandmother to like her father again…well, it would make her life easier. And wouldn't that make her father happy?

"How long will you and your fiancé be staying?"

"Oh, Wolf is my husband now. And as you can see, we're going to be having a little one soon."

"A baby! The Master is going to be a grandfather!! Oh, please tell him my family and I are thrilled for him. Happier than if it were happening to us."

"I will. We're only going to be here a couple of days to tell my grandmother."

"Then she doesn't know yet? I'm sure she'll be very happy."

"That remains to be seen," Wolf said under his breath.

"She calls here from time to time and leaves messages on the Master's answering machine, usually asking for you. I always make sure and return her calls, to let her know we still haven't heard from you. I think she's very concerned that you've been away so long. She asks if there is any word on your mother as well. In fact, she once asked me if I knew whether your mother had passed on. I thought it was a very strange question. But of course I didn't know the answer. I hope I didn't say anything the Master would disapprove of."

"No. No, you didn't. My mother did pass away actually. And my grandmother is having a hard time accepting it."

"Oh…" Murray's lower lip quivered at the thought of his Master losing his wife. For a moment he looked as if he might cry. "I understand," he said gently. "Are you going over to see your grandmother today?"

"We're not really sure yet."

"Well, I don't mean to interfere with your plans. But if you're going to be around, I know Mr. Kai would like to see you."

"Mr. Kai?" Virginia asked.

"Yes, he's a friend of the Master's. He knew him when he was young."

"I don't think I've ever heard of him."

"He said he knew the Master before he married your mother. He wanted to see you or the Master whenever you got back."

"That's nice," Wolf said. "I didn't know Tony had any friends."

"Just how did this Mr. Kai find you? Did he come here looking for Dad?"

"No. He came to our distribution warehouse. He said he'd heard some very interesting things about Magic Beer and he was interested in a job. After the way the police acted when they arrested the Master over that silly misunderstanding, I thought it might be best to keep Magic Beer in the Murray family till the Master said otherwise."

"Just what happened with that 'silly misunderstanding?'"

"It seems they found the real bank robbers. I and several members of my family all signed statements swearing that the Master was with us all afternoon and that the case with the money just showed up in front of the Master's door."

"Good. At least they aren't looking for Dad anymore."

"No. Not for some time now."

"So, back to this Mr. Kai…"

"I told him we weren't hiring. That my family was running things. And he said, 'Then you're the owner?' And of course I told him I wasn't. That we all worked for someone else. That he was away and that we were only watching the business for him. Then I took out my picture of the Master and showed it to him."

"You what?"

Murray pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out a snapshot of Tony. "Everyone in my family carries a copy." He handed it to Virginia. "We considered putting up a wall sized photo of him in the lobby and in the offices of Magic Beer. But this seemed much more personal, don't you think?"

Virginia didn't answer. She was too busy looking at the face of her father smiling back at her from the picture. It was an old shot. Tony was at least twenty-five years younger, standing in front of a red and blue Bouncy Castle. He had a full head of hair, a trim figure, and looked very proud and happy. Virginia didn't remember seeing this picture. The Murray's must have found it in her father's room somewhere while they were redoing the apartment.

"I know the Master is quite young there. But we couldn't find any recent photos and we thought this one captured him best."

"There aren't any recent photos," Virginia said. Ever since her Mom had left, her Dad had refused to have his picture taken, not for Christmas, or birthdays, or anything. He said he didn't want anyone comparing photos of him at different ages. Looking at this, Virginia could see why. The man in this shot wasn't the one she'd know growing up. Not the one she remembered anyway. She'd only seen glimpses of this man a few times recently, when he talked about the new boiler system to visitors at Wendell's castle.

"When Mr. Kai saw that, he recognized the Master at once. And he said he understood why we were being so secretive about the manufacture of Magic Beer. He said he knew the Master had certain…" Murray looked behind him to make sure the hallway was clear and no one was listening. "…He said he knew the Master had certain powers," Murray whispered.

Up till this point Wolf had been only half listening. He was too busy devouring the last bit of his sandwich and licking mayonnaise off his fingers. At the first mention of "certain powers," however, his head picked up. How could this Mr. Kai know anything about the dragon dung bean?

"As soon as he said that, I knew he was indeed a friend of the Master's. And of course I hired him at once. I knew the Master would want me to. Mr. Kai has been managing most of the business since then. It frees me up so I can serve in the Master's old job. I want the Master to come back and find me exactly where he left me, attending to his old job for him. Mr. Kai is the one who's been handling the business expansion. He started the brewing plant in Brooklyn and we've been selling most of our stock out of there nowadays. I know Mr. Kai will want to see you."

By now Wolf and Virginia were exchanging worried looks. Who was this man? Did he really know Tony? How much did he know about the wishes?

"We want to see him too," Virginia said. "The sooner, the better."

"I'll just call him right now," Murray said. "He can probably be here in about an hour. Will that be all right?"

"Oh, yes," Wolf and Virginia agreed.

As soon as she closed the door, Virginia said, "What are we gonna do? Who is this guy?"

"Now don't panic," Wolf sputtered. But it was clear by the way he was pacing that he already was. "Maybe he's just looking to steal your father's money."

"Or blackmail him."

"That's still just taking money."

"Maybe this Mr. Kai was one of the policemen who tried to arrest Dad and he figured out what was going on. Maybe the police are still looking for Dad and they lied to Murray about him being cleared."

"This sounds worse all the time. It's afternoon now. The mirror won't be turned on till midnight."

"I can't leave. Since my grandmother calls here, they might think she's involved. She might be in danger."

"Oooooooooh, I don't want to go to jail!" Wolf howled.

"Shhhh. Be quiet." Virginia wrapped her hand over her husband's mouth.

Matilde's cane came floating in out of Virginia's bedroom just then, where it had been left during Virginia's perusal of the apartment. It circled around them once. And seeing no obvious danger, it hovered within Virginia's sight as if asking for an explanation.

"Look. You've got Matilde's cane all upset," Virginia said removing her hand from Wolf's mouth. "It's all right," she said to the cane. "There's no danger. At least not yet."

The cane hesitated for a moment and then floated into her hand.

"We've got to see this guy," Virginia continued. "If it looks dangerous, we'll get my grandmother and leave for the mirror tonight."

"You're right. They probably won't arrest us right away. It's probably your Dad they want."

"We have Matilde's cane if we get into any trouble." Virginia swung the cane up into the air for emphasis.

"That's true. As long as this guy doesn't bring a battalion with him we'll be all right."

"Wolf, calm down!"

"I just don't want to be a jail bird again! And I don't want our cub to grow up in a jail either."

"Neither do I."

It was very hard waiting for Mr. Kai. Virginia spent most of the time saying how calm and normal they needed to act.

"We'll offer him tea," she said.

"Good, that's polite and civilized. Do we have time to make little sandwiches like the ones Herbert always serves with tea?"

"I don't know. But we can always offer him my sandwich. I'm too nervous to eat now. I wish this apartment faced the street. Then we could see if he came alone."

"Maybe I shouldn't wear this diamond stickpin," Wolf said, pulling it out of his tie and tossing it into a drawer. "He might assume I stole it."

Before they knew it, the doorbell rang.

"You answer it," Wolf said. "Pregnant women are more sympathetic looking."

"Right. You sit down. Remember to be calm, normal, and natural."

Wolf forced a smile and sank down into the leather recliner. "Calm…normal…natural," he whispered to himself.

The bell rang again.

"Coming!" Virginia called.

She opened the door to a serious faced man of medium height with curly brown hair and a round face. He looked about ten years older than Wolf. Virginia flashed him a big blue-eyed smile and said, "You must be Mr. Kai. Won't you come in? As Virginia closed the door behind him, she glanced out into the hallway. He seemed to be alone, unless there were policemen waiting downstairs. "I'm Virginia Lewis. And this is my husband Wolf."

"How do you do?" Mr. Kai said properly offering his hand to Wolf.

Wolf got up from the lounge chair still mumbling to himself under his breath. His sense of smell didn't engage completely until he was already holding their guest's hand. When it did, his eyes grew wide and he sniffed again. "Cripes!" Wolf yelped. And he spun Mr. Kai around into the chair he had just left.

"Wolf!" Virginia screamed. "What are you doing?"

But Wolf didn't hesitate. He grabbed Matilde's cane and raised it into the air threateningly over Mr. Kai. "Don't move!" he ordered standing protectively in front of his mate. "This cane is magic!"

"But…I don't have any magic," Mr. Kai said holding his hands up in surrender.

"Prove it!"

"How can I do that?"

"What kind of animal are you?"

"What?" Virginia said, trying to come out from behind Wolf.

"He's an animal," Wolf said.

"It's true," Mr. Kai said. "But I don't have any magic."

"What are you?"

"A Selkie."

"A what?" Virginia asked.

"A Selkie."

Wolf lowered Matilde's cane. "But there aren't any Selkies. Not anymore. They only occur in legends."

"I think most of them stayed behind in Irem."

"Where?" Wolf asked.

"I guess no one uses that name anymore."

"What's a Selkie?" Virginia yelled.

"They're part human, part seal," Wolf explained. "When they shed their skins, they look completely human. If you steal a Selkie's skin it can't return to the sea."

"I've taken great care to hide mine so that can't happen," Mr. Kai said gravely.

"They usually don't have any magic," Wolf continued. He lowered the cane the rest of the way. "Like a Magic Bear, their magic is in changing their form."

"I did have a little magic once, but it was very little. My sisters had different mothers and they were both very powerful. But I am not. My mother was a normal Selkie. And as luck would have it, I inherited only a little bit of magic from my father, as well as his long life."

"Are you from the Nine Kingdoms?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Mr. Kai said, his eyes narrowing. "I heard strange stories about Magic Beer and the people who ran it. When I saw Murray I knew instantly that he and his family were the victims of some sort of slave spell. And then I recognized Mazarin in the picture he showed me."

Wolf blinked several times. "Mazarin??"

"Who's that?" Virginia whispered, pulling on Wolf's jacket.

Mr. Kai pulled an amulet out of his jacket pocket. It was a white metal called antimony, dotted with clear crystals of alum. He jumped to his feet and held it out in front of himself as if it were a shield. "Stand back!" he ordered.

"I thought you didn't have any magic?" Virginia said.

"I don't. This is a protective charm to ward off evil."

"Evil??" Virginia pulled out from behind Wolf, her hands on her hips in an outraged attitude that would have done her father proud. "You think we're evil?"

"What else can I think? You're Mazarin's daughter and from what I remember of him, he wasn't very nice. Always trying to nullify everything Sabirah did, urging the land into confusion whenever possible. But she got things squared away after she died. So now you've stolen one of my mirrors and you've started enslaving these people here."

"I don't know who Mazarin is. But my father's name is Tony Lewis."

"I don't care what he's calling himself now. The man in that picture there is Mazarin the wizard." Mr. Kai motioned toward the collection of pictures on the table with his free hand.

"You think Tony is Mazarin?" Wolf asked. Wolf had been raised on horror stories about Mazarin the evil Wizard. He had seen some of the after effects of The Magic War. He didn't know what Mazarin looked like, but he couldn't believe it was anything like Tony.

"Who is Mazarin??" Virginia yelled.

"I've told you about him," Wolf said. "He's the one who started The Magic War. Remember when we were back in the past with my family? It was just before that."

"Oh." Virginia remembered hearing the story at some point. "He's the guy Matilde and her last husband put in that other dimension."

"Right."

"There was a war?" Mr. Kai asked.

"Huff-puff! This is getting confusing. Look, Virginia's father is not Mazarin the wizard. He's an ex-janitor who's now working as inventor to the king of the Fourth Kingdom. He's also the present husband of Queen Matilde of the Eighth Kingdom."

"Queen Matilde?"

"Yes."

"And he's not a wizard?"

"No. He's an ordinary human. And so is Virginia."

Mr. Kai hesitantly stepped forward and waved his amulet in front of Virginia. She raised an irritated eyebrow at him, but didn't move.

"She doesn't make it glow," Mr. Kai said.

Virginia folded her arms.

"If she were Mazarin's daughter, she'd have some kind of magic." Mr. Kai held the amulet up towards Wolf. It still didn't glow. "You don't have any magic either."

"Of course not. I'm a wolf and wolves don't have magic."

Mr. Kai then passed the amulet in front of the cane and it began glowing a brilliant green. "But you seem to be right about the cane. I don't know how much good it would be for protection, though. Green is the color of healing mostly."

"Yeah, well it does that too," Virginia said.

Mr. Kai held the amulet in front of himself next. "As you can see I don't make it glow either. My magic is in changing form. This amulet doesn't count that."

"What about my ring?" Virginia said holding up her hand.

The singing ring sat up straight on her hand and looked at the stranger cautiously. Mr. Kai passed the amulet over Virginia's hand and it glowed a soft purple.

"It has some psychic abilities," Mr. Kai said.

Virginia reached out and wrapped her hand around Mr. Kai's wrist so the ring touched his skin.

"A man of age he seems to me," the ring sang.

"I think he is what he claims to be.

Although I cannot read his mind,

No trace of evil can I find."

"I thought you could read minds," Virginia said, raising the ring to her face.

"With a glow that faint," Mr. Kai said, "he probably can only read minds that are magically sending him information."

"I can't read minds, that is true," the ring sang.

"But the heart for me is an open view.

He searches for the love he lost,

And he is here at great cost."

This seemed to really hit home with Mr. Kai. He swallowed and put the amulet away quickly. "It still doesn't explain why you're here."

Wolf and Virginia exchanged a look. If the ring said this Mr. Kai wasn't evil, they were willing to give him the benefit of a doubt.

"I happened into all this by accident…" Virginia began. She tried to give a simple a background on her connection to the Nine Kingdoms, including her father's part in it.

"So," Mr. Kai said, "your father wasn't thinking when he made all those wishes. Humans here don't fully understand magic. Many don't even believe in it. If they can find realistic reasonings for things, they hold onto them. That has allowed me to make Magic Beer look like a normal company and silence the weird rumors that I heard about it originally. The only problem is Murray and his family keep insisting on calling your father the Master. I haven't been able to break them of that."

"So I see," Virginia said.

"I was afraid at first that Magic Beer might have been magically altered in order to put the populace under a spell. Even when I saw it wasn't, I thought I should stay and face Mazarin down. I didn't want him interfering with the people here. This isn't my original home, but over time I've become very fond of it. These people deserve whatever protection I can give them. Especially since it's my mirror that brought this intrusion."

"How long have you been on this side of the mirror?" Wolf asked.

"About two hundred years, give or take. I left after it became obvious that Sabirah had things in hand. There wasn't much I could do there anyway because of my limited magic. And I'd never fit in anyway. I left my sea unicorns with orders to turn on the mirror once every fifty years in case I want to return. But I haven't. It's been about two hundred years since I've seen any of my unicorns or anyone else from the Nine Kingdoms."

Wolf gasped. "You have unicorns?" He'd heard of these wonderful creatures, but had never actually seen one.

"Sea unicorns. I have ties to a griffin as well."

"A griffin? Virginia, did you hear that? A griffin!"

"There's only one left in the Nine Kingdoms now. There used to be a pair, but his mate died long ago."

"And you came here to look for your lost love?" Wolf asked with sympathy.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. She died. We had so little time together and her heart was so broken with guilt. I can't believe that destiny would be so cruel as to leave it like that. I believe that one day my Jennica will be reincarnated and we will find each other and live happily ever after. For real this time. I sold my feeble magic powers to a jinn whose castle appeared out of nowhere during a freak snow storm."

"A jinn?" Virginia said. "What's that?"

"It's a type of fairy," Wolf said. "Except they can be allied with demons and so aren't always trustworthy. They can also serve as guardians and avengers. It's hard to tell what a jinn will do. I've always heard it's better to stay away from them. They can also appear as different types of animals. Most fairies if they can change form can only change to one. "

"This jinn was very fond of fine things," Mr. Kai continued. "His castle was very ornate and it was filled with white marble and rich fabrics. He said he was a collector and that he collected magical powers as well as other things. In exchange for my powers he gave me some magic quicksilver that he promised could be made into a traveling mirror. He said one day Jennica would come to this land and that I would find her again if I proved myself loyal enough. When I brought the quicksilver to the dwarves of Dragon Mountain they convinced me to stretch it out and make three mirrors in case of breakage. I did so, leaving two with them for safekeeping. From what you tell me, those two were eventually stolen, one by Snow White's stepmother, who was banished shortly before I left. And the other by Mazarin. That prison you spoke of used to be his castle. I never liked him much. As I said he was always working against Queen Matilde's mother, Sabirah. I think the trouble began after Matilde turned down his proposals of marriage. Later he was rumored to have killed Matilde's daughter in revenge. But of course that was never proven."

"Matilde had a daughter?" Virginia asked, her blue eyes growing wide.

"Yes. But that was five hundred years ago. I never met the daughter or Matilde, but I went to the girl's funeral for Sabirah's sake. Matilde didn't attend. Sabirah said her daughter's spirit had been crushed at the girl's death and that out of respect for her we should speak of it as little as possible. Of course everybody adhered to her wishes. I can't remember the girl's name anymore, but I believe she was a healer of some sort. She was about Virginia's age. It was all very sad. I'm surprised Matilde would marry a man who resembles Mazarin so closely. The psychiatrists on this side of the mirror would have some interesting things to say about that."

"You think?" Wolf said, his eyes lighting up. It was good to know he wasn't the only one with issues. Perhaps he would lend Matilde some self-help tips.

"And you haven't found your Jennica during these past two hundred years?" Virginia asked.

"No."

"But if she is born again, she could look very different. How will you recognize her?"

"I will recognize her heart."

Virginia shrugged at Mr. Kai's romantic notions. They were too idealistic for her, but it certainly proved he was from the Nine Kingdoms.

Wolf's stomach was beginning to growl, so he suggested they move into the kitchen for refreshments. Over roast beef sandwiches and milk, they filled Mr. Kai in on some of the other things that had been happening in the Nine Kingdoms and told him of their plans to visit Virginia's grandmother.

"I'm glad the wolves are starting to get some respect," Mr. Kai said. "It only seems fair."

"Virginia, don't play with your food…eat it." Wolf was well on the way to finishing his third sandwich by then and she still hadn't started her first. "I promised your father I'd make you eat properly."

"I'm just wondering how I'm going to face Grandma."

"I think I can help you there," Mr. Kai said, "I spoke to her a couple of times after I joined Magic Beer. Murray mentioned she'd been calling and I wondered if she might be part of Mazarin's old gang. From the way she talked, I knew immediately that she was totally uninvolved with your father. In fact, she seems to hate him."

"She does," Virginia said. "And it's mutual."

"She also seemed very worried about you."

"Oh!" Virginia dropped her head into her hands. "I'm a bad granddaughter!"

"Let me smooth the way for you. I can call her this afternoon in my capacity as the manager of Magic Beer and say that your father asked me to tell her you're coming in for a few days."

"That would help a lot," Virginia said hopefully. "Maybe you could even tell her Dad is planning on giving her a sizable allowance from the Magic Beer profits. That'll put her in a good mood.

Mr. Kai nodded approvingly. "It would also make the business books look more normal. While I'm talking to her I could even drop a few hints about Wolf being a prince."

"Oh! Could you?"

"Consider it done. It's the least I can do since my mirror has caused so much of this trouble. I mean, Wolf would never have tried to eat your grandmother if he hadn't been able to get here."

"That's all right," Virginia said. "If Wolf hadn't come here, we wouldn't have met."

Mr. Kai nodded. "Yes. And you wouldn't have your chance for a happy ever after. Point taken."

"How were you planning to deal with Mazarin without magic?" Wolf asked. "I mean, he was supposed to be very powerful."

"New York is not without magic, Mr. Wolf."

"Just Wolf is fine."

"Very good. You can call me Kai. That's my real name. I use it as a last name on this side of the mirror and put John in front of it when I need a first name. Anyway, there is magic here, it's just not very strong. New York City is a gathering place for many types and when my suspicions about Mazarin began, I started putting together a group that was willing to try and sabotage his magic. I might not have been able to stop him, but I had to do something. After all, it was my responsibility. I couldn't go back to the Nine Kingdoms for help because my unicorns aren't due to turn on my underwater mirror for another forty years. And I couldn't sneak back through Mazarin's stolen mirror because I didn't know when he'd turn it on. I was hoping eventually to find someone here with enough power to help me. Speaking of which…you really should really talk to Matilde about coming here with her Uncle Brutus to undo the slave spell on the Murray family. It might take the two of them to do it because it's gone on for so long. But it really is unconscionable to leave them like this."

"We will," Virginia said.

"And speaking of Matilde…does she still have her mother's crystal ball?" A look of concern crept into Kai's face. "I mean, did it survive Mazarin's war? They didn't use it to get rid of Mazarin, did they?"

"I don't think so," Wolf said. "Matilde and her husband Centaurea did that all on their own. She still has the crystal. We see her with it every now and again."

"Good," Kai said, his face relaxing again.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kai was as good as his word. He called Virginia's grandmother and told her they would arrive after lunch the following day. "She was thrilled about the allowance," Kai told Virginia over the phone that night. "And she's extremely impressed that you're married to a prince. I took the liberty of saying that Wolf's family was eccentric in case she recognizes him. But I didn't mention anything about your mother. I think that's your duty."

"It is," Virginia agreed, even though her heart was pounding at the thought.

The next day, Virginia told Wolf to give her an hour alone with her grandmother before he came up. As they parted in front of her grandmother's building, Wolf folded up the collar on her coat and gave her a lingering kiss on the forehead. "You sure you want to go in without me."

"Yes," Virginia said. "We need to talk alone."

"Very well. But I'll be worrying every second."

"I've got the cane in case there's trouble."

"Good. Keep it close."

Virginia approached the door of her grandmother's apartment as if she were going to her execution. Taking a deep breath, she knocked.

"Who is it?" her grandmother asked.

"It's me…Virginia."

Virginia's grandmother whipped open the door and swept her long lost granddaughter into her arms. "My darling! I've been so worried! Why didn't you call? Mr. Kai said you were out of the country, but they still must have had phones."

"Not where I was. They're kind of back wards about some things."

"Come in, come in! I want to hear everything that's been going on! Mr. Kai tells me you have some very important news." Grandma pulled Virginia into the room, excitement flashing in her eyes and in her smile. She was like a little kid expecting the world's biggest Christmas present. "Mr. Kai told me you'd married a prince! Is that true??"

"Yes. Yes it is. He's coming a little later. I wanted us to have some time alone."

"So does that make you a princess?"

"Yes. It does."

Grandma clapped her hands together, causing her charm bracelet to jingle eagerly. "Oh, that's so much better than being in society! Do you wear a crown?"

"No. People in Wolf's country aren't into being showy."

"Does your being a princess make me anything?"

A small smile came to Virginia's lips. "It makes you my beloved grandmother. Here…" Virginia pushed two bottles into her grandmother's hands. "I know how much you like champagne."

Her grandmother's eyes opened wide at the labels on the bottles. "Oh, these are very expensive! Does your prince have a vineyard or something?"

"No. In fact, Wolf doesn't even know that much about wine. We had a friend pick it up for us this morning." Or rather a slave. Since Wolf and Virginia didn't have any New York City money, they had asked Murray to go out shopping for them. With his wealthy background he knew exactly what to get. And he'd been thrilled at the assignment, racing out with such joy that you'd have thought they'd been doing him the favor instead of the other way around.

"Take off your coat, Dear. I'll just open one of these and we can have a talk. I want to hear all about your prince and your whirlwind romance."

"Oh, none for me," Virginia said. But her grandmother was already halfway to the kitchen. Gingerly she opened her winter coat. It had covered her pregnant state, but the black velvet dress she had on under it did not. Virginia tugged nervously at the long strand of pearls around her neck. She thought about sitting down, but decided to remain standing.

When Grandma came back into the room she was carrying a bottle of the expensive champagne and two glasses. Her white poodle Roland was following behind.

Roland immediately went to Virginia. He jumped up and down a bit, asking to be petted, but it was hard for Virginia to bend that far down. "Good boy, Roland," she said.

"He missed you too," Grandma said. "Every now and again he would look at me those sad brown eyes of his and I knew he was asking about you. First your mother left. And then you. I was really beginning to worry. Especially after that strange young man came here." She poured the champagne out and offered a glass to Virginia.

"No thank you," Virginia said.

"I thought you liked champagne…" Grandma said. And then she saw Virginia's stomach. Her expression of joy fell away and fear jumped into her eyes. "Oh, my. Are you…in the family way?" she said with concern.

Virginia had been ready for almost any reaction, but the expression of dread on her grandmother's face was not one of them. "It sort of happened more quickly than I thought it would."

As if in a trance, Grandma put Virginia's glass on the coffee table and sat down.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'm just…surprised. I was thinking of your poor mother. It was after you were born that things…started going wrong for her."

"Grandma, listen. You've got to tell me what happened with Mom. I need to know."

"She's dead isn't she." It wasn't a question. After Virginia's last visit Grandma had spent several days working hard at disbelieving it. But what reason would Virginia have for lying? Tony might lie, but not Virginia. It had to be true. Tears began flowing down her rouged cheeks and falling into pink splotches on her white robe.

"Aw, Grandma." Virginia sat down and put her arm around her grandmother.

"My poor poor Christine." Grandma almost asked how Christine had died. But she really didn't want to know. Her fantasies about her daughter were much better than the reality. She thought she'd rather hold onto those. Knowing that Christine was gone was bad enough. "She was so beautiful. She had such promise." The tears became sobs now.

Virginia got up and fetched some tissues from the top of the television. "Here," she said, mopping at her grandmother's tears. "And hold onto this. It'll make you feel better." Virginia wrapped her grandmother's knobby fingers around Matilde's cane. The older woman didn't question it. She had too many sad thoughts invading her mind.

"I did my best," Grandma said between sighs. "I hoped she wouldn't get it. But she did."

"Get what? It's about Grandfather, isn't it?"

"Yes. He wasn't really a big game hunter you know."

"I know," Virginia said gently. "Can you tell me about him?"

"He was a good man. From a good family. And when we married it was in all the society columns. I didn't realize his behavior was…more than just eccentricity until after your mother was born. As a result, your grandfather had to spend a lot of time away from home. I ended up raising Christine mostly by myself. Since your grandfather had money I was able to put on a good show for quite a white. I centered myself on your mother and gave her every opportunity. I sent her to the finest schools. And made sure she vacationed in places where she would meet the cream of society. She had lots of beaus, you know. Men adored her. Your father was wealthy in those days and I thought he was the best choice because his business was on the upswing. Your mother told me she didn't want children because she didn't want to be tied down. You were…unexpected. My poor Christine was never the same afterwards."

"You mean she got like Grandfather?"

Grandma nodded grimly. "And now you're in the family way too. At the same age she was. It seems to be happening all over again." She grabbed Virginia's hand. "Your husband being a prince, he would have access to good doctors, right?"

"I guess."

"Good. You go to them. Make sure they give you the best of care."

Virginia suddenly felt frightened. She'd been having encouraging dreams about her mother lately, but this made her think she was just kidding herself. Her grandmother obviously thought insanity was the unavoidable family curse and that Virginia was doomed. Was she?

"Are you going back there, to your husband's country?"

"Yes."

"You will let me know if anything happens, won't you?"

"Of course."

"When is it due? The baby I mean."

"In about three months. It's a boy they tell me."

"A boy? That's nice."

"You'll like Wolf, Grandma. His family is on the eccentric side too. But they're very warm hearted."

"Mr. Kai told me."

"Did he also tell you that Dad's giving you an allowance? Since he can't be here to look after you, he wants to make sure you're being taken care of."

"Yes. It was a generous amount."

"Why don't you have some champagne," Virginia said. "Just because I can't have it, doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Maybe later."

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Virginia said getting up. "It's probably Wolf."

"Hello!" Wolf said as he sprang into the room. "I come bearing a gift." He whipped out a little black box and held it in the air dramatically. When his performance didn't receive the excited reactions he was expecting, he realized his grandmother-in-law was sitting with a clump of tissues in one hand and Matilde's cane in the other. It was obvious from her smudged make-up that she'd been crying. "Huff-puff. What's happened here?"

"Grandma's just thinking about Mom. And worrying about me."

"About you? Why?" Wolf looked anxiously from one woman to the other.

Virginia took the black box from Wolf's hand and sat next to her grandmother again. "Here, Grandma. Wolf had one of the lord's in the castle pick this out for you. See?" She opened the hinged box to reveal a large diamond clip."

"It's beautiful," Grandma said, her lips trembling as she prepared to cry again. She threw her arms around Virginia and kissed her. Then she got up and did the same to Wolf. She didn't see the resemblance between her new son-in-law and the man who'd talked about cooking her six months before. She didn't expect him to be the same person and truthfully, he wasn't. She was also too worried about Virginia to see much else. You take care of my granddaughter," Grandma said, patting Wolf on the chest.

Wolf looked over to Virginia questioningly, but she said nothing. She just picked up the cane and guided him to the door. Grandma sniffed her goodbyes and went back to her tearful memories.

"What was that?" Wolf demanded when they hit the street.

"She's worried," Virginia said, burrowing further into her coat. She wondered why she had ever thought New York was spring-like. It suddenly felt very cold and forbidding.

"About what? What is it?" He stopped and firmly held her to the spot.

"She's worried I'm going to turn into my Mom."

"Oh, no no no no no! That will never happen. My succulent girl could never turn into a wicked witch."

"How do you know?" Virginia asked, her lower lip quivering. "First it was my grandfather. Then it was my mother. I could inherit whatever they had. I'm at the right age." And she fell into Wolf's arms and had a good cry.

- - - - - - - - - -

Wolf insisted they go back through the mirror that night. Even though things hadn't always been perfect in the Nine Kingdoms, at the moment it seemed like they had a greater chance for a happy ending there.

Tony was the one who turned on the mirror. Wendell had originally named a servant for the job, but Tony insisted on handling the duty himself. Since it was late, he was dressed comfortably in a burgundy smoking jacket and matching ascot. He was dressed like a lord, but the look on his face was that of a concerned father.

"So?" Tony said as Wolf walked out of the mirror with their suitcase. Wolf's face was full of guilt and worry. As Virginia stepped through Tony said, "What happened?"

Virginia's had planned to be brave, but that resolution lasted all of two seconds. "Oh, Daddy," she cried. She threw her arms around her father and Matilde's cane dropped to the floor. No one noticed that it rolled out of the way and floated into the air. It paused a moment to magically wave the door open. Then it departed.

"What happened?" Tony repeated.

"Virginia's grandmother thinks she's going to become like her mother," Wolf explained. "When we left, the old lady was already mourning her."

"Why?"

"Because the Evil Queen started going evil after Virginia was born."

"What?"

"That's what she says. Huff-puff! I should have eaten that old broad when I had the chance."

"She didn't mean anything bad by it," Virginia sniffed. "She just finally understood that she'd lost Mom and now she's afraid she'll lose me."

"You listen to me, young lady," Tony said, "your grandmother lives half in and half out of reality. She doesn't know what's going to happen."

"I know. I'm just afraid. Afraid that I'll lose my mind. Afraid that I'll hurt my baby."

"Oh, Sweetheart," Tony said.

"It happened to Grandfather first."

"Did your grandmother say that?"

"Yes."

Tony sighed and looked up toward the ceiling as if hoping it would advise him. "Your mother always avoided talking about him. And your grandmother always said he was off big game hunting. I knew that had to be a lie, but in the beginning I just thought he'd run off with another woman. Divorce wasn't something you talked about in those days and I couldn't imagine any man staying with your grandmother anyway. It wasn't till later that I had other suspicions. You were about seven when your grandmother said your grandfather had passed away. I still wasn't given any specifics. And your mother left a little while later."

Virginia shut her eyes. If it were just her that was involved, she could bear it. But she didn't want to hurt her little baby. Or pass this curse down to him.

Matilde appeared at the now open door with her cane in hand. "Virginia? What did my cane tell you? I know you've been having healing dreams involving your mother and the spirit of the cane. What did the spirit say?"

"Yes. What did it say?" Wolf asked.

"That…I didn't inherit what Mom had. But how can a cane know?"

"Because she's very old and her healing powers allow her to see such things. It doesn't mean that you won't have trouble. But you don't have to be your mother. Unless you choose to be, of course." Matilde gently pressed the cane into Virginia's hand. "I want you to go upstairs to bed now. Take the cane with you. It will help you sleep and give you healing dreams. Open yourself up to them."

Virginia nodded and let Wolf lead her away.

"Will it work?" Tony asked after they'd left the room.

"It depends on how much she lets it. The mind is a very strong thing with its own magical set of rules. We've got to keep at her so she doesn't talk herself into something. Then at some point she'll see be able to see past all this."

"I wish there was something I could do."

"I know." Matilde put her arm around her husband and rested her head on his shoulder. "One of the worst things about being a parent is that you can't protect them from everything."

- - - - - - - - - -

Outside in the woods near the castle, Timka was following the scent trail of a fox through the snow. It was slow going because his human eyes couldn't see well in the dim light of the stars. But he wanted Wolf to notice that his hunting had improved by the time he got back. Unfortunately, the fox got away when his jacket got caught on a thicket. He was pulling himself free when he caught the scent of several wolves approaching.

"It's the quarter wolf cub," a voice in the darkness said.

Timka couldn't see who was addressing him or how many wolves there were.

"What's the matter? Can't you see us?" the wolf in the darkness asked.

"Who are you?"

"It's Camus. My friends and I are taking a night stroll."

Timka remembered the older full blooded wolf with the spotted snout who wanted Wolf to rise up against the humans. The voice didn't sound threatening but Timka's muscles tightened up and his hand slipped to the knife at his waist. He wasn't a good fighter, but he knew how to show attitude.

"We hear your uncle is away."

"Yes," Timka said.

"And he didn't take you?"

"No."

"I thought you two were close?"

"We are."

"And he leaves you behind?" The older wolf sniffed disapprovingly. "Your uncle doesn't care as much about you or this land as he should. Why don't you come with us? We'll take you back to the castle."

"No. I'm all right. I'd like to stay out a bit longer."

"As you wish. We're always nearby if you need us."

The older wolf swished through the underbrush, followed by the rest of his pack. Timka could tell by the sounds that there were part wolves as well as full blooded ones. After they'd gone Timka could still feel a presence watching him. He sniffed the air and tried to look intimidating. "Who's there?" he commanded

"Just Rubin."

Timka only vaguely remembered the young full blooded dark gray wolf. He opened his mouth to get a better taste of his scent. "What is it?"

"You don't see very well in the dark, do you?"

"What of it?" Timka said with irritation.

"Just that I'll help you hunt if you want. All those other wolves are so old and solemn. They don't know how to play and have fun. I can only take so much of their serious talk."

Rubin's voice didn't sound challenging the way Camus's had. Timka would have liked to have a friend closer to his own age. But he felt too unnerved at that moment to take him up on his offer. "I've got to go back to the castle," Timka said. "See if there's any news about Wolf."

"Oh…all right," Rubin said, disappointment in his voice. "Maybe some other time. Good night."

Timka heard Rubin swish off through the bushes, leaving him alone once more in the cold snowy woods.


	19. Chapter 19 Anthony

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**Anthony**

When Tony and Matilde heard that Wolf had sent down for breakfast the next morning, they waited a respectable amount of time and then came calling. Virginia was just finishing her meal of porridge and soft boiled egg. She greeted them with a half smile. She looked better than she had the night before, but she still looked as if she'd been under a strain.

"How are you, Honey?" Tony asked gently, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Fine," Virginia said with a sigh. "Better."

"Did you have any good dreams?" Meaning of course, had Raphaela been able to cure her worries?

"I don't remember. I think so."

"Good. Maybe you should keep Matilde's cane for a while longer."

"Maybe. I suppose you want to know everything that happened."

"Yes," Tony said, patting her hand. "But if you don't feel up to telling us, Wolf can fill us in."

"No. I'm all right. It was just…seeing Grandma again brought everything back. She didn't mean to upset me. She was upset herself. Over losing Mom and being afraid for me."

"You're gonna be all right. I know it."

Virginia turned away. She didn't want to get on that subject again. "You know, Murray and his family are still your adoring slaves."

"Really?" Tony couldn't help it. A wicked gleam came to his eyes and his lips spread out into a broad smile.

"Yeah. They're even carrying pictures of you around in their wallets."

"Really??" The gleam and the smile got bigger.

"Daddy!"

"After everything Murray did to me, I can't help but gloat a little."

"Mr. Kai says Matilde and her uncle should come and take the spell off them," Wolf said. He was standing near the door next to Matilde.

"Mr. Kai?" Matilde asked. "Who's Mr. Kai?"

Virginia and Wolf exchanged glances. They'd already agreed to tell them everything about Kai, except for the part concerning Matilde's deceased daughter. They thought that was something Matilde should bring up to them herself. If they brought it up, it might seem like prying.

"He's a Selkie," Wolf began. And he gave them a brief overview of Kai's story, beginning with the ring's insight about his search for his lost love, all the way through to his mistaking Tony for Mazarin. They didn't think Tony would like the idea of his looking like one of Matilde's old beaus. But there was no way to leave that out since they might conceivably meet Kai again one day. As soon as the name Mazarin passed Wolf's lips, he sensed the temperature change in the room.

"He thought I looked like who??" Tony demanded, jumping to his feet.

"Mazarin the wizard," Wolf said blinking in surprise. "He's the one who, uh, started The Magic War and…"

"I KNOW who Mazarin is!"

"Really? Virginia didn't remember who he was."

"Well, I do! He's the one who killed two of Matilde's husbands and her daughter!"

Silence fell on the room.

Tony hadn't meant to mention Matilde's daughter. But it was too late to take it back. Raphaela lay quietly at Virginia's side as if she were just a cane. And Matilde's eyes begged Tony not to say too much. It seemed as if both mother and daughter didn't want him to tell the whole story yet. Tony realized it was probably because Virginia was in a funny place with Raphaela at that moment. It would be bad timing. The day before Virginia had had it confirmed that her grandfather was crazy. She didn't need to find out today that the cane she'd been walking around with for the last few months was really her stepsister. Tony looked to Wolf and Virginia, trying to gauge their reaction before he said anything. They looked guarded, but not surprised. "You know about Matilde's daughter," Tony said in a small voice.

"Kai told us," Virginia said. "We're sorry, Matilde. We were going to wait and let you tell us."

Matilde started playing with the crystal rings on her fingers. "I should have told you. But there were things I wanted you to get through first."

"We're sorry," Wolf said.

"You know, I still don't feel good about looking like your homicidal ex-beau," Tony said to his wife.

"Maybe she just likes men of his type," Wolf suggested helpfully.

"Wolf!" Tony said.

"Or maybe you both look like her father."

"What?"

"My self help books say that we usually pick lovers who remind us of our parents in some way."

"Tony doesn't look anything like my father," Matilde said. "My father had a different personality too, a sort of quiet intensity. My mother was more outspoken."

"Then maybe Tony reminds you of your mother," Wolf offered reasonably.

"Will you cut that out!" Tony said.

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well, don't!"

"Wolf's self-help books aren't entirely wrong," Matilde said. "There was some similarity between my father and my first husband. But Mazarin and I were never in love. At least I had no feeling for him. I admit you resemble him a little, Tony. In fact, I think that's why I didn't like you at first. But you're nothing like him. Not at all." Matilde raised one eyebrow. "Except maybe in terms of ego."

"Thank you."

"Centaurea was pretty strong in that department too."

"It sounds like you like men who remind you of your mother," Wolf said.

"Wolf!" Tony yelled.

"Virginia reminds me of my mother," Wolf said. "She's strong willed and speaks her mind. And she's very regal."

"So? I like men with strong egos, "Matilde said. "What of it? I'm sure if you thought about it, you would find similarities between me and Christine."

"Not to the point where someone would mistake you for her," Tony said.

"No one who knows you would mistake you for Mazarin either."

"Well, this Kai did."

"But he doesn't know you. And it doesn't sound like he knew Mazarin all that well either. My Uncle Brutus has never said anything like that, has he? Or my cousin Alicia? Mazarin grew up in the midst of the Ice Fairies, but none of my people have said anything before because you're not like Mazarin at all. Centaurea was more like him than you are. They were like opposite sides of the same coin. It was important to Centaurea to prove to the world how much of a hero he was. And Mazarin wanted nothing more than to prove what a villain he was. In the end, they destroyed each other. To quote someone else, you're more real than they were."

"That's the trouble with marrying someone who's five hundred years old," Tony grumbled. "They have a long string of ex's."

"Kai said he knew your mother Sabirah," Virginia said trying to change the subject.

Matilde nodded. "She used to talk about someone she called 'the Selkie.' I assumed he'd died a long time ago. I didn't know he was so long lived or that he'd gone on to another dimension. He must have left about the same time my mother's spirit finally departed."

"Early Cinderella," Tony said. "That's the era the Kissing Town antique dealer said our mirror was from."

"Actually that was Mazarin's mirror," Wolf said. "Since it was from his old castle."

"Snow White Prison used to be Mazarin's castle?" Tony asked. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"It was already like a fortress," Matilde explained. "It seemed the simplest way to do things."

"Sorry to bring all this up," Virginia said. "But we still need to do something about Murray and his family? It does seem rather unfair to leave them like that."

"My Uncle Brutus and I will go and remove the spell after your baby is born," Matilde said. "I want to stay nearby till then."

"You don't have to," Virginia said.

"Murray and his family can wait three more months," Matilde said, sliding into her imperious persona. "Especially since they have this very old Mr. Kai watching out for them. I belong here right now."

"Thank you," Wolf said. Maybe Virginia didn't feel a need for Matilde's presence, but he did. In his world, children born with a fairy godmother on hand always had a better chance of survival.

"Now we'd better let Virginia get some rest," Matilde said. "If you need us, we'll be in the castle."

"I'll be fine," Virginia said.

Wolf opened the door. "If you happen to see Timka, please give him my best. He was here earlier and I couldn't talk to him because Virginia was still sleeping. I told him I had to stay here today, but I don't think he took it very well."

"I'll talk to him," Tony promised. "At least I'll try. I don't think he likes me very much."

"I don't think he likes anyone except Wolf," Matilde observed after they were out in the hall by themselves on the way to the stairwell.

"I don't like you very much right now," Tony said. "You could have told me…about Mazarin."

"I didn't think it was important."

"Why couldn't I look like the great Centaurea at least?" Tony said sinking against the wall. "Everyone seemed to revere him. No man likes to feel like he's second best, you know."

"Now you're being ridiculous! I told you. You are not Mazarin. And I am not Christine either."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It means there are no other men in my life. You don't need to second guess me the way you had to with Christine. I don't know why you look like Mazarin. Maybe you share some ancestor somewhere. He has fairy blood and fairies have the ability to travel between dimensions. Maybe someone in his bloodline came to your land and made a home there the way this Kai has. Wendell looks like his great-grandfather on his mother's side. A truly stupid man if ever there was one. But Wendell is nothing like him except in looks. You are first in my life. And that is the way it will stay. Even if you insist on acting stupid and exasperating!" And with that Matilde flounced down the stairway, her petticoats rustling angrily behind her.

"Yeah? Well, I love you too. Even when you're bossy!" Tony called after her.

"Thank you!" Matilde yelled back without turning around.

Of course Tony and Matilde made up. They avoided each other studiously for the rest of the day and prepared for bed in silence. But as soon as they touched in the darkness, the passion between them ignited. Many times during their relationship it had been like this. There would be an argument, followed by love making, followed by pillow talk, which in turn gave way to a better understanding. For them the coming together physically was a reaffirmation of their need for each other. And after that nothing else seemed as important.

"You know," Matilde said, as they lay resting in each other's arms later, "We could do some research to see if you have some ancestor in common with Mazarin."

"Don't bother. It's probably just some joke of destiny."

"You might have an ancestor in common who didn't have magic. Or it might be so far back that you just didn't inherit any. This Kai might know something. We could start by asking him about it."

"It's not really important." Tony kissed her hand and examined her faintly glowing fingertips. "My ego got a little bruised, that's all. I'll survive."

"You know I was never really interested in Mazarin. I was in awe of Raphaela's father, though. He was older than I was and he seemed so in control of everything. I was in awe of Centaurea too. He convinced me and almost everyone else that he was the great hero of our time. It's different with you."

"You mean you're not in awe of me."

"No. I'm in love with you."

Tony wrapped his arms tighter around his wife and smiled peacefully. "I think I can live with that. I understand what you mean about being in awe. I was in awe of Christine too. Now I'm just in awe that I was ever in awe. If you know what I mean."

Matilde gave a little laugh. "I think so."

"I would like to meet this Mr. Kai, though. It would be good to have someone in New York who could order parts for me or get information for some of my projects here."

"I'd like to meet him too. Wolf said this Kai looked only a little bit older than him. And yet he knew my mother and attended a service for Raphaela. That makes him at least five hundred years old, probably more. And yet he still doesn't look middle-aged. No one in the Nine Kingdoms lives longer than the Ice Fairies. So he has to be from somewhere else. I only vaguely remember stories about those who ruled the land on the other side of the Fifth Kingdom, beyond the magic barrier. They were supposed to be very long lived, almost immortal. I can't help but wonder if this Mr. Kai is from there. Or if he's descended from someone from there."

"The land on the other side of the Fifth Kingdom? I think I remember one of the dwarves babbling about that once. Eranthis's son maybe?"

"It could be. Gustav is the oldest living mirror. He may have told the dwarves some things about our past that others have forgotten."

"How can you have a magic wall between you and this other place and know so little about it?"

"The Ice Fairies believe that we came from that other place originally. And that it wasn't a pleasant parting. There are lots of other places we can go, so we decided it wasn't important. Then we persuaded everyone else in the rest of the Nine Kingdoms to think the same way."

"Do you even know what this other land is called?"

"My mother used to call it Irem."

- - - - - - - - - -

As Virginia got further into her last trimester, her mood improved. The positive feelings Rose had promised grew almost by the day. It was as if she were a wolf in the full throes of moon madness. She tired Leaf Fall out with Counsel work, surprised Lord Rupert with requests for more dresses, and challenged Wolf to several games of hide and go seek, which she always won. In the midst of all this energy, she saw no reason to carry Matilde's cane with her except when she needed to visit the Seventh Kingdom.

Matilde tried to talk her into keeping the cane close by just in case. But Virginia insisted she had worked through everything and felt wonderful.

"I'm sure you feel that way now," Matilde cautioned. "Your body is readying itself to give birth. But there will be a big change after the baby's born. All that natural high will end abruptly. Many women find themselves depressed. The women here call it 'new mother nerves.' It can be especially severe when you've been going through a lot of other things at the same time. My daughter was born not long after her father died and I fell into a major depression. My mother had to take over most my child's care for a while."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Virginia said, patting Matilde patiently on the hand in the manner of one who is young and inexperienced but convinced they have all the answers. "I'll be careful. Really. I feel fine! Great even!" And she went racing off again.

Meanwhile the heavy snows in the Kingdoms continued. Rose saw how restive the wolf soldiers were becoming, so she joined Kobsa in putting them through a series of war games. She invited both Wolf and Timka to take part, but only Wolf agreed, mostly to please her. Timka had no interest in war maneuvers or combat. Hunting was the thing he loved most. And he pushed Wolf to join him in the woods with bow and arrow as much as possible. Since Virginia was often tied up with Council work during the day, Wolf had time.

As Virginia's due date got closer, Rose and Matilde insisted that she stay closer to home and not visit the Seventh Kingdom so often. Leaf Fall agreed. Virginia argued against it, but gave in because she was outnumbered.

One day Herbert the perfect butler knocked on Wendell's study door while Matilde and the king were discussing how the delayed planting season might affect the fall harvest.

"Excuse me, your Majesties," Herbert said. "But Princess Virginia seems to be helping the maids clean the front parlors. I'm told before that she was rearranging the pots and pans in the kitchen to make them look more decorative."

"Cabin fever?" Wendell asked.

"No," Matilde said. "Labor is starting. Thank you, Herbert. I will come and collect the princess at once. Please advise everyone else and send a message to Queen Leaf Fall."

"Yes, your majesty."

Virginia, however, didn't want to be collected. She was feeling so good it was as if she had been drinking swamp water. She liked the job she and the maids had done with the parlors and wanted to do the same for the main dining room. Rose and Matilde let her go on for a while longer, but when the labor pains started in earnest they were able to persuade her to adjourn to her room.

The wing of the castle where Wolf and Virginia had their room sounded like a madhouse with all the screaming, whining, howling, growling, and singing. Rose had been trying to coach Virginia on deep breathing and meditation to ease the pain. But there were many times when nothing but a good old fashioned scream would help. Wolf felt powerless. He kept pacing the length of the room, whining and howling when Virginia was in the worst pain. Rose kept growling at her brother and the singing ring to shut up. The ring had decided to serve as cheerleader for the proceeding. He would alternate calming ballads with upbeat songs that urged everyone to put on a happy smile. Rose was not amused. She was trying very hard to maintain order. She had two other part-wolf midwives assisting in the birth. She had cleared Tony and Matilde out earlier because she didn't need worried parents as well as a worried husband cluttering up the room. But Matilde's cane was still present, clutched tightly in Virginia's hand.

To Virginia, the labor seemed to go on forever. But finally at about two o'clock in the morning, their son was born. It seemed unreal to her when they placed him in her arms. He was a miracle, so tiny and soft, with a pinched face fringed with dark hair. His hands were balled up into fists, until he somehow managed to push one of his fingers into his mouth. Virginia couldn't find the words. For once, neither could Wolf. He knelt at Virginia's side and blotted away hours of sweat from her face. Virginia had never looked lovelier or been more precious to him.

"We'll call him Anthony, right?" Wolf asked softly. They'd promised Tony long before that they would name the baby after him if it were a boy.

Virginia smiled her answer.

For the next three days, Virginia felt as if she were still flying with the joy of it all. She napped a bit after Anthony was born, but then her head hardly touched the pillow. She greeted visitors and hovered over her son as if powered by some sort of mystical magic. She didn't notice the worried looks that Matilde, Rose, and Leaf Fall were starting to exchange. But Wolf picked up on Tony's concern. He'd spent far too much time with the older man not to. Tony stayed close to his daughter and new grandchild as if he were expecting something bad to happen.


	20. Chapter 20 Baby

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

**BABY**

Mazarin's plans were now in the final stages. When done on a small scale, the curse they were planning could be performed merely by throwing a certain magic powder at the intended victim and thinking the proper spell. But to curse all of the Nine Kingdoms, the magic powder had to be scattered over everything and then activated by a series of chants.

It was decided that Zafira and several other fairies with the ability to change form would spread the magic powder in one great final snow storm that would cover all of the Nine Kingdoms and last for several days. That way the magic powder would fall unnoticed and disappear in the melting snow before anyone was the wiser. Once the curse was begun, they would leave for the land on the other side of Kai's mirror. Of course before they could conquer this new land, they had to do a reconnaissance. Mazarin decided Zafira should handle this too, since her ability to change form would allow her blend in without arousing suspicion.

"While you're gone," Mazarin said, "I will oversee the making of the magic powder."

Of course Zafira agreed, even though she didn't like being away from him.

"I am going to miss you," she confessed. "I was hoping that we would never be apart again."

"You'll be gone two or three days at the most. Hardly any time at all."

"Won't you miss me?"

"I'll have lots of work to do," Mazarin said gruffly, as if the work were the only thing that mattered.

But the work was secondary to Zafira. She wasn't doing this because she burned for revenge or power like many of their followers. She was doing it because she loved Mazarin. When it came time for her to leave, Zafira tried once again to make him understand how lonely she would be without him. "I am going to miss you," she repeated, softly touching his hair and moving closer for a goodbye kiss.

"There's no time for that!" Mazarin said as he pulled away. "Go! The sooner you go, the sooner we can begin this."

Zafira tried to move toward him again. But Mazarin blocked her with his cane.

"Go!" Mazarin ordered, pointing to Kai's mirror.

"Yes, Master," Zafira said, bowing her head to hide her hurt. She flapped her fairy wings and rose from the ground. Then she shrunk down in size and in a flash changed into the shape of a pigeon. She had seen many of the birds fly past the vision of Central Park in the traveling mirror and she knew she could blend in well with that disguise. She hesitated for a moment, as if she were waiting for him to say something.

"Go!" he commanded impatiently.

In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the mirror.

Mazarin turned off the traveling mirror and moved to the one next to it to contact the rest of his followers. He was keeping the two mirrors side by side in the great hall because it was centrally located. Mazarin's followers were expecting to hear from him that morning about the magic powder, so they were waiting at hand. "You're all here," he said. "Good. Before we make our final preparations against our enemies, there's one more thing I need you to do."

The trolls were in the kitchen at that point, slowly cleaning up from breakfast. Bluebell was washing dishes in a large vat of soapy water, with an old table cloth bunched up at his waist as an apron. Burly was sitting at the large table in the center of the room, with his boot clad feet on one of its corners, picking his teeth. Blabberwort was scraping plates into a barrel.

"It's your turn to take the garbage out," Blabberwort told Burly.

Burly pretended not to hear.

From the next room they could hear Mazarin's voice rise.

"What is he yelling about now?" Blabberwort asked.

Burly got up and put his ear to the door. "Something about snow. Now they're all chanting something in a strange language."

"I don't see why they don't just make snow their curse. They seem plenty good at that."

"I asked him. He said controlling the weather takes constant power and they want something that can run on its own."

"It would be better for our people if they did a snow curse. We trolls don't like snow and cold, but if there's enough game we can do without crops. Crops are too much work. If we…"

Suddenly there was an earsplitting roar from the great hall. It echoed off the ancient stone walls of the castle and shook the building to its very foundations. It was like a thousand horns blaring at once with a growl somehow thundering underneath. The three trolls jumped into the air and screamed in a fashion that would have embarrassed their illustrious father. The plates Blabberwort and Bluebell were handling ended up as broken chips scattered on the floor.

"Suck an elf!" Burly said. "What was that?"

The roar gave way to another sound, a loud slurpy variation on a cat's purr.

The trolls exchanged looks. They knew what it was.

"Suck an elf!" Burly said again. And he led his siblings out of the kitchen into the entryway to the great hall.

The trolls had trouble making their brains believe what their eyes were seeing. Most of the great hall was taken up by an enormous green dragon with purple wings and a pair of golden horns. It also had a very long wet red tongue, which was presently lapping at Mazarin's face in the manner of a dog greeting its master.

"Yes, yes," Mazarin cooed affectionately. "I missed you too, Baby."

"That's Baby?" Blabberwort said.

"I'm not walking that," Bluebell murmured.

"Don't just stand there," Mazarin yelled at the trolls. "Get her something to eat!" The wizard scratched the dragon's nose. "You're hungry, aren't you my pet?"

"What do we feed it?" Burly asked.

It was a very logical question. Dragons had been missing from the Nine Kingdoms for more than two hundred years. Very few people had an inkling of their diet. All the trolls had ever heard was that they ate people, especially young maidens.

"You want us to fetch some young maidens?" Burly asked with a smile on his face. The idea of catching young maidens appealed to him.

"Don't be a fool!" Mazarin said. "Dragons don't eat people unless they're doing something that threatens them. Can't you tell that by the small size of her mouth?"

To the trolls, the dragon's mouth looked large enough to take a good bite out of a giant. But of course they knew better than to disagree with Mazarin.

"Those boars you hunt will do nicely for her. And any greenery you can find. They like that too."

"Will they eat scraps and bones?"

"Yes."

"Guess I won't have to bury the garbage now," Burly said, heading for the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the scraps from breakfast weren't nearly enough. Baby had an enormous appetite. Before bedding down that night, she ate two adult boars and a couple of pine trees. The trolls spent most of the next day hunting for her, and the day after that as well. Baby the dragon scarfed down everything they brought her in a matter of minutes and then started bellowing for more.

"She's a growing girl," Mazarin said, rubbing her enormous scaly green tummy.

"How big will she grow?" Blabberwort asked.

"As big as she wants," Mazarin said, his eyes glowing red. "Since I am busy with curse work, it is your job to keep her happy.

"But how long will it be before the game on the island gives out?" Burly asked.

"And why do I have to shovel all the dragon manure by myself?" Bluebell asked.

The red faded from Mazarin's eyes. "You have a point."

"We do?" Blabberwort said.

"This is a small island. We may need to bring in food for her from the outside."

"I can go!" Burly said eagerly.

"No! Let me!" Blabberwort said, pushing her oversized brother aside.

"No, me!" Bluebell said jumping up and down behind them.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" Mazarin asked. "You might go and warn your people against me. When Zafira returns I will send her. She can transport large cuttings of beanstalk. That will keep my Baby happy." He gave the dragon an affectionate pat and she answered with a contented purr.

"Beanstalk?" Burly asked in amazement. "She eats beanstalk?"

Blabberwort couldn't help it. The mere thought of eating beanstalk made her tongue loll out of her mouth.

Bluebell choked as he remembered eating the stuff at Snow White Memorial Prison. That had been the worst part about being imprisoned there. Even the beatings were more enjoyable.

Mazarin laughed at the expressions of disgust and confusion on his servants' faces. "What? You don't like the idea of eating beanstalk? Don't you know Baby is descended from the last of the dragons from the Nine Kingdoms?"

"So?" Bluebell asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered why the beanstalks have been out of control during the last two hundred years, but not before that?"

"Trolls don't think about the past." Blabberwort said proudly.

"Or the future," Burly agreed.

"Forgive me for asking such a foolish question of such foolish creatures. Let me tell you what the answer is. It's because the dragons used to keep them under control. Before Jack's time, they never had a chance to get high enough to reach the kingdom of the giants. Without the dragons, the beanstalks can grow as high as they like. Once my curse begins in earnest, the beanstalks may even take over all of the Nine Kingdoms."

"But your dragon seems happy with meat as well," Blabberwort said.

"Of course. Dragons will eat just about anything. But beanstalks are a delicacy. This is good because they grow faster than the average boar. I would order you to plant a garden of them, but we have to leave soon."

"We've never been much for gardening anyway," Bluebell said.

"That's right!" Burly said. "Trolls are hunters!"

Blabberwort grunted in agreement.

"Good," Mazarin said. "Then hunt. My Baby will want a bed time snack."

The trolls had no choice. They dragged themselves outside once again to hunt in the growing darkness. There was no snow on Hunter's Island since they were beyond the area that Mazarin's group had been influencing. But it was colder than the trolls liked and the remaining boars seemed to be getting better at hiding. After several hours of hunting, all the trolls could find was one old boar and a sickly spruce. By the time they returned to the hunting lodge Mazarin was no where to be seen.

"The Master must have retired for the night," Blabberwort observed.

"Or he's sitting in front of that silly altar of his," Burly said.

"If he was here, he'd probably just give us more work to do," Bluebell said.

"Let's feed this stupid animal and get some sleep," Blabberwort said.

Burly tossed the dead boar to Baby and his siblings dropped the spruce nearby. The dragon gulped down the offerings as if they were merely an appetizer and roared for more.

"Be quiet, you over grown lizard!" Burly said. "We don't have anymore."

Baby didn't like having her authority challenged. She roared again, this time right in Burly's face. The force of her breath blew back the troll's hair and pinned the decorative bar in his nose to his upper lip.

Bluebell jumped into Blabberwort's arms and hid his eyes in her hair.

Burly had had enough! He was tired of being Mazarin's servant, of playing nursemaid to a dragon, and of wearing poor quality boar's leather boots. He roared back directly into Baby's face, as loud and as angrily as he could.

Blabberwort hid her face as well. Both she and Bluebell fully expected the dragon to eat Burly.

Baby blinked in surprise. The trolls had been skittering around her ever since she'd arrived. She thought they were below her in the growling order. She brought her face even closer to Burly's and glowered at him. Burly glared right back. They stood like that for a while, each trying to out-stare the other.

Baby was like the sea unicorns in that she had intelligence, but didn't have the power of speech. Her species had been bred to serve a princess who had long ago given up her power. Without leadership the dragons had grown erratic and had been hunted almost to extinction. But they weren't killing and eating machines. They were soldiers without a battlefield, soldiers who understood the value of strength.

This was the first time Baby had seen the trolls show any attitude. She liked it. If this was who they were going to be, she thought perhaps they would be tolerable company. She made a deep throated, "Humph," and nudged Burly with her golden horns. This was the dragon version of a pat on the back. To her their standoff had become a friendly challenge. Since it was clear there wasn't going to be anymore food, she retreated to her sleeping corner and threw herself down onto the stone floor with a loud reverberating thud.

By this time, Blabberwort and Bluebell had opened their eyes. They were astounded to see their brother still alive and Baby seemingly tamed.

"What did you do?" Blabberwort asked.

"Yeah, and can you teach us?" Bluebell said.

"Sure. Just look it in the eye and yell. Don't show any fear!" Burly growled and tried to look as mean as possible. His siblings tried to imitate him.

From then on, the trolls and the dragon got along much better. Whenever Baby roared, they just roared back. They even started taking her on hunting expeditions with them. Peace was restored to the castle. At least until Zafira returned from New York.

On the day Mazarin was expecting his consort to return, he'd left the mirror on. Zafira flew in just after breakfast, still in the guise of a pigeon. Baby, not knowing any better, thought she was some kind of bird snack. She used her long dragon tongue to try and catch her. Zafira just managed to turn back to her normal self before anything untoward happened. Without the dusty feathers, Baby recognized Zafira's scent. There had been whiffs of her in the main hall and in the direction of the stairs. Baby was smart enough to realize that if Zafira lived there, she wasn't food.

"Mazarin!" Zafira shouted. "Mazarin!

He appeared at the top of the stairs looking irritated. "Who do you think you are, yelling like that?"

"I thought we agreed to leave the dragon where she was?"

"Only until the Nine Kingdoms was in further chaos and they are. We're preparing for the last and greatest snow fall now. The fools of the Nine Kingdoms are weary and worrying about their precious growing season. A little growling on Hunter's Island and a few missing beanstalks won't be noticed." Mazarin didn't have to explain to Zafira about dragons eating beanstalks. He had already mentioned that to her at some point. "The protection spell they put on the beanstalks are all at cloud level so the giants can't climb onto them," Mazarin continued. "You'll only have to throw some traveling dust over a few to bring them here. I'm sure you can handle it by yourself."

"You expect ME to fetch the beanstalks?" Zafira asked. "As if I were a troll?"

"Of course. I can't trust the trolls to do it. They might tell their people what we're planning."

Zafira's red cheeks matched her red hair. "I am to be the servant of an animal?"

Baby's eyes narrowed. She didn't understand all the words that were being spoken, but she sensed a rival.

"Baby isn't an animal," Mazarin said coming down the stairs. "She's family. I've told you that." Lovingly the wizard ran his hand over Baby's snout.

Hatred filled Zafira's face as Baby snuggled against the wizard and raised her purple wings over him in an attitude of possession.

"Have some lunch," Mazarin told Zafira, without even glancing at her. "Then go to the old Bean Town and bring back a beanstalk for Baby's dinner. I think she's tired of boar."


	21. Chapter 21 Fears of Madness

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

**Fears of Madness**

On the fourth morning after Anthony's birth, Wolf woke to the cries of his son and the sound of the bedroom door closing. At first he thought the door sound was Virginia coming back from one of the nightly wanderings that she'd been going on since Anthony's birth. But he saw no sign of her in the dim light. He thought he must have been dreaming. It never occurred to him that the door might have been opened and closed by Matilde's cane as she exited the room to search for Virginia. Wolf got up from the queen-sized bed he usually shared with his wife and glanced first toward the window and then to the elegant grandfather clock near the door. Anthony was right. It was morning, but the heavy snow storm outside made it almost as dark as night.

"Shhh," Wolf whispered as he picked his son up from his basinet. "I know. First we'll give you a little change and then we'll go look for Mommy. She usually comes back in time to feed you. I wonder where she got off to."

After changing the baby, Wolf changed himself and started downstairs with his son in his arms. Hardly anyone was up. He saw one maid carrying a breakfast tray in the direction of Rose and Wendell's room and asked if she'd seen Virginia.

"Sorry, your Highness," the young maid said. "But if I do, I'll tell the princess you're looking for her."

Wolf looked through the whole of the main floor, but all he found was Matilde in one of the back libraries. "You haven't seen Virginia, have you?" he asked.

"No," Matilde said. "And I've been down here since four o'clock."

"I have no idea how long Virginia's been up. She hardly ever sleeps nowadays. There are a few upstairs sitting rooms I haven't checked. I suppose I'll try them next."

Anthony started crying again at that point, as if he objected to the idea of waiting any longer for his breakfast.

"Maybe we should call the wet nurse," Matilde suggested. "She can take care of Anthony while we look for Virginia."

Wolf's eyebrows pulled together with uncertainty. "I don't know".

Virginia had been very unhappy about Matilde hiring a wet nurse. To her it seemed as if they didn't have any faith in her taking care of her own baby. But Matilde had insisted that this was a special situation and that it wouldn't hurt to have her there just in case. Wolf thought maybe Virginia would be mad at him if he said yes, but Anthony's cries were getting more insistent.

Just then there was a knock on the open door. It was Matilde's cane, floating in the air and waiting for their attention.

"Do you know where Virginia is?" Matilde asked the cane.

It answered by heading back out of the room. Wolf and Matilde followed. Anthony quieted down as soon as they started moving. From his point of view it looked as if his demands for breakfast were about to be met.

The cane led the way to a back stairway. Then down into the basement to a dark quiet room with a single lit candle. It was the room where Wendell had had Virginia's mother laid out before her burial. Ever since then everyone avoided the place. It was said that it was haunted, not by the Evil Queen herself, but by her victims. That they'd come there to taunt her while she'd been laid out and some of them were still lingering. On the rare occasion that it had to be cleaned, Herbert the perfect butler had had to handle it himself. The bier that Virginia's mother had been lying on was in the same place and Virginia sat on the same chair she had back then.

"Virginia?" Wolf asked.

His wife turned to look at him. Her face was stained and puffy, as if she had cried till she could cry no more.

Anthony started fussing again because his father was standing still. His little voice reverberated in the stone hallway.

"We've been looking for you," Wolf said gently. "Anthony has a wolf's appetite."

"I can't help him," Virginia sniffed. "He deserves a better mother than me."

"What are you talking about?" Wolf asked. "You're a great mother."

"No I'm not. I'm a murderer, just like my mother. I have to stay here all alone. That's my punishment."

"You go and take care of Anthony," Matilde said, taking charge. "I'll look after Virginia."

Wolf looked from his wife to his mother-in-law. He didn't want to leave. But he had his arms full of fussing baby and Matilde seemed to have a clearer idea of what to do. "We'll see you later," he whispered. And he kissed the top of Virginia's head.

Once they were alone Matilde said, "This is what I was telling you about. This depression happens to a lot of women. The change that comes over your body after being pregnant can be severe, especially when you've been through as much as you have. Rose says it's also harder for a human woman to handle the change after a wolf pregnancy. To put it in wolf terms, Rose says it's like coming to the morning after a particularly wild full moon."

"I'm going to be just like my mother, aren't I?" Virginia asked. "I'm going to hurt my baby."

"No you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"You haven't slept much in the last few days, have you? Or eaten."

"I didn't want to."

"Maybe not, but you have to. I'm going to take you to your room now and give you a potion that will ease your depression and help you sleep. Holding onto my cane will help you too. You've been leaving it in your room during these nightly haunts, haven't you? At least sleep with it this time. And when you wake up you will eat something."

"I don't want anything."

"I know. But this wallowing will only make things worse."

And so the struggle for Virginia's sanity began. At least that's how it seemed to Virginia. The hormones that had been coursing through her body during the last days of her pregnancy had kept back all her anxiety in an artificial high. Now everything that had happened in the past and her fears for her future came crashing down on her. She had replays of her struggle in the bathtub where she'd almost been drowned by her mother. And she relived the heartbreak at her mother's abandonment, followed by the pain of finding her again, followed by the guilt of having to kill her in self-defense. These memories crashed into her fears about being a bad mother to Anthony. Her grandmother had imagined her sinking into madness. Now she believed she was.

Virginia didn't care about anything. She cried constantly. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't sleep without the help of one of Matilde's sleeping potions. And she refused to eat for the most part. Matilde insisted that she keep the cane by her side, but Virginia's dreams were so obsessed with things past that Christine and Raphaela weren't able to break through her mental wall.

Wolf was beside himself. He didn't know whether to stay at Virginia's side or Anthony's. Virginia couldn't bear to have the child stay in the same room with her. His presence made her break out into panic attacks. So Matilde ordered the room next door made into a nursery for Anthony.

"Tony and his men will put in a door between the two rooms after Virginia is feeling better," Matilde said.

"She is going to get better, right?" Wolf asked.

"Yes," Matilde assured him. "It might be hard for a while, but she will get through it."

The endless darkness and snow didn't help Virginia's mood either. It was supposed to be spring, but there was no sign of it anywhere. There were only dark clouds and piles of snow. It brought the Nine Kingdoms to a standstill. For the most part, only those able to use traveling dust could move from place to place.

The exception to that was Clayface the goblin. He had had a lot of difficulty getting to the castle of King Wendell, but he knew it was important for him to see Tony Lewis. On the way, he'd stopped wearing his invisibility shoes because the constant dampness kept shorting them out. Besides, what good were invisibility shoes when the snow showed every footstep you made?

Herbert was quite surprised to see a guest show up at the main castle doors. They'd given up shoveling the stairs since there weren't any carriages driving through the roads.

"I'm here to see Tony Lewis," Clayface said, seemingly unconcerned about his wet clothing. Most people coming in from a snow storm instinctively dust themselves off. Clayface let the snow melt and drip onto the floor.

"Would you like to change into something drier first?" Herbert offered.

"I'm fine," Clayface said. After all, what does a goblin who can stand the coldness of the sea care about melted snow? Clayface sat down on the shining waxed floor of the entry hall as if this was his usual state of being.

It wasn't the way Herbert usually liked to leave guests, but he couldn't deny that Clayface seemed quite comfortable. So he left him where he was and went in search of Lord Tony.

Tony had given up trying to work since Virginia had gone into her depression. He was too worried about her to concentrate on anything else. When Herbert told him that Clayface had come visiting, he thought it was a little weird, but then decided the goblin had simply been caught in the storm and was looking for a place to stay for a while. Since Virginia was taking one of her infrequent naps Tony didn't think he'd be needed for a while.

Rose, Leaf, and Matilde had spent most of the morning getting Virginia to come downstairs to talk about Council business in Wendell's study. Then they'd dragged her to a "normal" lunch in the main dining room. Virginia hadn't submitted quietly to this, but she'd submitted. Later that afternoon Leaf intended to have Virginia help her with some correspondence. And Rose had grandiose hopes of talking her into joining the wolf troops for calisthenics, but Tony had his doubts about that.

"Hey, Clayface," Tony said. "What brings you out in this storm? You need a place to stay, old buddy?"

Clayface slowly unfolded from the puddle of melted snow on the floor and looked at Tony with his usual expressionless expression. "I have a carving," the goblin said, running his hands through the inner pockets of his wet clothing. He handed the little white statue to Tony and leaned over his shoulder as he looked at it. He'd added a title during the trip across the Nine Kingdoms. It read, "One-Time Master of the 10th Kingdom."

Tony glanced at the statue. To him the guy in the long robes looked a little like him dressed up for Halloween, standing in front of a city from back home. Tony remembered vaguely another statue that Clayface had carved when they'd escaped from Snow White Memorial Prison, but he couldn't remember what it was of anymore. He just remembered being creeped out by it at the time, so he'd thrown it away. This one didn't give Tony the creeps. He was far too worried about Virginia to see it as anything other than an excuse for Clayface to come in out of the snow storm. He thought maybe it was a tribute of some sort, hinting that Tony might one day get a kingdom for himself. After all, as far as Tony knew, there was no 10th Kingdom.

"What does it mean?" Clayface asked Tony. "I'm not sure that it's you."

"Well, it's certainly not my style in clothes," Tony said. "Why don't you hang onto it and see if anything hits you. In the meantime, you can stay here as long as you want. I'll see you get a nice warm room and some hot food. I'll tell Herbert you and I are old buddies. After all, if you and Acorn hadn't dug that hole out of the prison, who knows what might have happened."

Clayface took the statue and shoved it back into one of his pockets. "I can stay here?"

"Yes, of course. Isn't that what you wanted? Look, I don't have any time to talk now, but maybe later. In the meantime, I'll have the head butler set you up."

"Can I carve?"

"Carve? Sure. I'll have some wood sent up to your room. I've gotta run now. My daughter has been sick for about a week and I'd like to be there when she wakes up. You understand. Remember, stay as long as you like!" And off Tony went.

- - - - - - - - - -

Even though Virginia had fought against going downstairs that morning, she'd felt much calmer when she laid down for her nap. And she'd fallen asleep without any problem.

When the purple haze that always preceded Raphaela's arrival in her dreams started to build up, Virginia didn't put up a wall this time. Instead she sat waiting by the reflecting pool of her mind with an empty stone seat next to her. She was finally ready to talk.

"I'm so sorry you've been going through all this," Christine began as she sat down next to her daughter in her dream. "I know it must frighten you."

Virginia couldn't look at her mother, not yet. All she could see was the reflection of her fears in the pool in front of her. "Mother, I think I'm going to be like you and Grandfather. I think I'm losing my mind."

"Have you been having hallucinations?" Christine asked. "Have you been hearing voices talking about you or seen visions of things that you know aren't there."

Virginia turned and looked at Christine for the very first time. "No. Is that what happened to you?"

"Yes. It didn't happen to me till after you were born, but it happened to your grandfather all the time. Of course, I didn't know that when I was growing up. Back then no one ever talked about such things. I didn't understand why your grandfather was away so much. I was told he was off big game hunting, but he never brought home any trophies.

"Every now and again he would return for a few months, looking very thin and acting as if he ruled the world. Your grandmother would show him off to a few friends and he would talk proudly of his importance in international politics. Then one day I would come home from school and your grandmother would say that he'd gone off big game hunting again.

"It wasn't until I was an adult that I finally learned the full truth. Not because your grandmother told me. She couldn't bear to talk about such things. But because I tracked him down to the private sanitarium where he'd spent most of his adult life. I talked to the doctor in charge and he told me your grandfather had something that incorporates several aspects of Schizophrenia with Bipolar Disorder. In your grandfather's case, his depressive episodes usually led him to injure himself. He couldn't stand the voices and visions anymore and wanted to blot them out. Overtime he deteriorated to the point where he could hardly form an understandable sentence. I went to visit him once or twice, but he didn't remember who I was and he was a stranger to me as well. I told your grandmother about it, but even when I confronted her with the truth she insisted that I was wrong. That he was still off big game hunting. So I never told her about my own problems when they began.

"My symptoms weren't as bad as your grandfather's. By that time it was fashionable to have a shrink. So I visited one doctor while I was in a depression and he told me he thought I had something called hypomania. It was supposed to be milder than your grandfather's ailment, but the doctor still wanted to put me on a regimen of drugs. I refused. As I said, shrinks were in. It was fashionable to hate your mother, but it wasn't fashionable to have a real illness. I was Christine the perfect. At least that's what I wanted to be, even at my lowest points. And there were a lot of low points. But there were a lot of high ones as well.

"I met your father during one of those high points. I was witty and exciting and alluring. I took chances and lived life to the fullest. I dressed and acted as if I were an earthbound goddess. And that's what I believed I was. And while I was living that life, I spent money thoughtlessly, putting your father deeply into debt as his business started to fail. I hardly ever needed to sleep, which was just as well because I wanted to spend all those nights with men…lots of men. And I didn't care how much it hurt your father. How could I possibly be ill, I wondered, when everyone seemed to like me so much the way I was?

"But there was always a price to be paid. Eventually I would hit the depths of depression again. I had no thoughts of suicide like your grandfather did, but there was lots of guilt. You were actually conceived during one of those low points, when I was filled with remorse over everything I'd ever done to your father. And then when the high points returned, I resented you for being the mistake that ruined my party.

"After you were born my mental state deteriorated. Postpartum psychosis I heard one of the doctors tell your father. That meant that my postpartum depression had taken a turn for the worse. I was hearing voices telling me to kill you because you were going to keep me from becoming the earthbound goddess I imagined myself to be. They prescribed drugs which I took for a while and then stopped. I did make some efforts to care for you properly, but I always resented you. The voices continued and so did the extreme highs and lows. One day, Snow White's Stepmother insinuated herself into my mind and drowned out all the other voices. It was a relief. She started telling me I was wasting my life. That she could give me great power and make me a queen that would be both worshiped and feared. All I had to do was leave behind my ordinary drab life and sell her my soul, as it were. When I tried to hurt you that last night and your father stopped me, I ran off to her for good. I knew I couldn't go back. If I did, I might become like your grandfather, living out the rest of my life in a sanitarium, instead of becoming this great queen that Snow White's Stepmother talked about. I didn't really want to hurt you, Virginia. It was the disease."

Virginia was crying now, both in and out of her dream.

Tony and Matilde were sitting with Virginia in the waking world at that point, to give Wolf a chance to take a nap for himself and look in on his son. When Virginia started crying in her dream, Tony's first instinct was to wake her up. But Matilde stopped him.

"This could be a breakthrough," Matilde said. "She hasn't had any reaction like this so far. She's probably speaking with both Raphaela and her mother. You have to give them the chance to work this out."

Tony nodded and held back.

In her dream Virginia was aware of her mother taking her in her arms. She couldn't see anything through her tears.

"There, there," Christine said. "I did love you. I did. I tried to be normal. But I just couldn't be. I'm sorry I hurt you, my dear sweet little girl." Christine wiped away her daughter's dream tears. "I'm so sorry. But you see now, you're not me. You're not having any hallucinations and you're not dreaming of killing your child."

"Then what's happening?"

"It's just a particularly bad case of postpartum depression. Raphaela thought you might have a tendency toward it because of everything that's happened. But you will recover. Pretty soon, if any of this is an indication. It will get better. But the shadows, the memories will haunt you every now and again. You must talk back to them and not be afraid to love your child."

"But I'm still afraid."

"Start slowly, even though you're afraid. It will come. You've been through a lot."

"Will Anthony get what you and grandfather had?"

"Raphaela, the spirit that brings us together, doesn't see any sign of the illness in Anthony."

Virginia started crying again. "I've been so hard on everyone."

Christine smoothed back her daughter's hair. "They understand. And that's good because your hormones are not yet in balance. But this will pass."

As Virginia rose out of her dream, she heard her mother say once again, "It will pass."

Virginia awoke to find her face wet, clutching Matilde's cane so tightly that her fingers were almost as white as the twisted old wood.

"Bad dreams?" Tony asked, mopping at Virginia's face with a handkerchief.

Matilde slipped quietly from the room so they could be alone together.

"No," Virginia sniffed. "Good ones, actually. Dad…I know you've been worried about me…"

"What do you expect? It's a father's job to worry."

"You said that you knew I'd be all right, but you've been a little afraid that I'd turn into Mom, haven't you?"

"No," Tony said, brushing away one last tear. "You're the only one whose been afraid of that. What happened to your mother was completely different. I knew things were serious when she started seeing things and talking to people who weren't there. You've been upset, but only over things that actually happened. And you're worried about the future. Considering what you've been through, that's not surprising. Do you feel any better?"

"Maybe."

"Good. I think Leaf Fall is still expecting you to help her write correspondence this afternoon. And you know how determined she can be."

- - - - - - - - - -

As it turned out, Leaf Fall showed up at Virginia's door exactly at tea time. It seemed like a good opportunity to both get her young Second up and urge more food on her. She was glad to see Virginia already sitting up and dressed. It made it easier to spirit her down to the sitting room on the second floor. Neither woman thought to pick up Matilde's cane on the way out. And this time Raphaela thought Virginia might be able to do without her.

"You seem calmer," Leaf said, as she motioned for her Second to sit down. "Are you feeling better?" Herbert had already left them a pot of tea and some sweets. Leaf poured out a cup for Virginia and for herself.

"A little."

"Then you slept well for a change. I'm glad." Leaf handed Virginia her tea and a couple of cookies. By this time, she knew her Second's likes and dislikes in food and didn't have to ask if she took sugar or cream. "We're going to write to Lobelia the Elf first. One of the Commoners from the Seventh Kingdom has decided to step down. You remember Narcissa. She didn't make the last Council meeting, but when she's there she talks constantly. Anyway, I've decided to appoint a non-elf this time. You're right that we should give the humans within the kingdom a voice. I was thinking of Eadred the Ferryman. He works on the river not far from the Moss Castle. He meets a lot of people in his line of work and is generally aware of the outlook of the populace. I've already asked him and he has agreed to take Narcissa the Elf's place." Leaf noticed that Virginia was staring down into her tea, as if fascinated by something at the bottom of the cup. "What? You don't approve of Eadred? Or is it the tea you don't approve of? I can have Herbert bring you something else."

"It's not the tea. I was just thinking how funny it feels to be someone's mother."

"I know you have fears about becoming a mother, Virginia. But the truth is you shall be a very good one."

"But my mother…"

"Was not at all like you. I never liked your mother. I felt there was something wrong about her from the very first moment I saw her hanging on Wendell's father's arm after his mother's death. There was contempt in her eyes for all of us. You are nothing like her. One minute she was charming, the next she was lethal. She would gush over Wendell's father, but she also had a thing for the Huntsman."

Virginia's blue eyes got very wide. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. There were rumors of her being involved with other men as well. But the Huntsman was her favorite. Everyone knew he would do absolutely anything for her. I think he was more besotted with her than Wendell's father."

"No one talks much about my mother here."

"They wouldn't." Leaf put aside her empty tea cup and picked up a leather folder with several sheets of royal writing paper. "But you know me. I'm nothing if not direct."

"Than what kind of mother do you think I will be?"

Leaf looked hard at her step-sister. "A better one than I was."

"What?"

"I never went through new mother nerves like you are. But I wonder if it would have been better if I had. Everyone makes mistakes as a parent, there's no escaping that. But I wonder if maybe it's better to start off the whole business questioning things rather than marching in as if you can control everything. That's what I did. Amaranth and Forsythia almost pretend that I don't exist now. They're more fond of their father than they are of me. Especially Amaranth, my elder daughter. Neither one of them has an interest in the Seventh Kingdom or in the Council. The last public ceremony I managed to drag them to was Wendell's coronation. And you know how well that turned out. They vowed never to attend anything like that ever again."

"I remember seeing them…vaguely. I know you'd rather have one of them working as your Second."

"Oh…" Leaf Fall said, taking Virginia's hand fondly. "You're doing a wonderful job. I'm very lucky to have you. Even though you're younger than my daughters, you look and act much older. Elves age differently and I'm beginning to believe mine are backwards. My family has ruled the elves for over a thousand years. I had hoped one of my daughters would follow in my footsteps and continue the tradition. Now I doubt that will happen."

"Who would take over your throne in that case?"

"Oh, there would probably be a struggle for power, I have no doubt. After my daughters, my closest relatives are a group of cousins in the Deadly Swamp. Most of the elves in the Seventh Kingdom would refuse them as monarchs for purely snobbish reasons. They would also never accept a human as a king or a queen unless they had some sort of great magic or were of historical importance like Cinderella or Snow White."

"What are your daughters like?"

"As I said, Amaranth is the older one. She looks more like me, but she acts more like Woodbine. She likes being important in the kingdom and having people defer to her. But as I said, she has no actual interest in the kingdom itself. Forsythia is shorter, with dark hair like her father had when he was young. She has a softer disposition. She isn't into rank as much as her sister and I think she would prefer to live forever in the depths of the woods at the side of some stream. In some ways she rather reminds me of my human mother."

"What was she like?"

Leaf gripped the leather folder tighter. This was a subject she didn't often talk about. "She was a shy person. Like Forsythia, she preferred living in the woods near the sound of rushing water. She was always disappearing on my father. He would inevitably find her sitting under the Moss Castle near the running creek, talking to the occasional talking frog. I think my father married her because he wanted to show everyone that the Seventh Kingdom needed the elves to unite with the humans. As much as they revered him, the elves were never impressed with his gesture. As far as they were concerned, even though my mother had the title of queen, she was still human and therefore beneath them. They barely noticed her. But she was a lady of great virtue, who always had the greater good of the kingdom foremost in her mind. I remember her standing shyly behind my father, always modestly deferring to what he thought best. Matilde was quite a change for him, believe me. Though I think my father even had Matilde in his thrall. He was always talking about destiny and urging everyone forward to some shining vision that only he could see."

"You sound as if you were in his thrall too."

"Everyone was. I wish I'd inherited more of my father's magnetism and less of his brashness. Or perhaps I would have done better with more of my mother's warmth. Perhaps then my daughters wouldn't resent me so much. You and Wolf have much to offer as parents. You're going through a difficult time now, but you will triumph and move on. You have to go through the curses before you can claim your happy ending. That's the way it works in the Nine Kingdoms. Now….back to Lobelia the Elf and Eadred the Ferryman."

- - - - - - - - - -

Zafira returned to Hunter's Island just as it was getting dark. She and several others of their group had flown through the storm to scatter the magic dust that would be needed for the curse, while Mazarin and the remainder of their group remained connected by magic mirror, chanting to keep the snow falling. The weather was obeying their request for snow, but the spring sun behind their magically obtained clouds was fighting against them, trying to inch up the temperature. Their powers were stretched to the limit because they were trying to do so many things at once.

When Zafira appeared in the great hall of Gretel's old hunting castle her red hair and gray gown were drenched and she was covered with damp snow flakes.

Mazarin waved away the vision of his followers in his mirror for a moment when he saw her. "My dear, you've returned!" he said coming toward her.

Zafira's smiled. At last a sign of affection. "Did you miss me, Master?" she asked, moving to touch him.

"Of course," Mazarin said, patting her hand briefly and releasing it. "But Baby missed you more."

"Baby?" Zafira said, arching her eyebrows. Baby had become her nemesis. The green dragon dominated all of Mazarin's free time and kept Zafira constantly on the run carting bean stalk pieces to the castle.

"Yes, she ran through all the food you brought her yesterday. She's been crying piteously all afternoon from hunger."

"The poor dear," Zafira said wryly.

"I haven't been able to go out because I needed to lead the chant. You'll have to go back out before it gets too late. It's been a long time since my poor Baby has eaten."

"I could have sworn I'd left her with more than enough to get through the day."

"Maybe it's because she's digging a den at the back of the castle. Dragons like to dig, you know. But it's hard work. She'll need higher rations. Maybe you should change first, though. You're dripping all over the floor."

Zafira said nothing. She merely turned and went to her room to change. How could that dragon have gotten through all that food she'd brought the day before, she wondered. And how could Mazarin do without her magical input for so long? True, they were ending the snow storm that night, but she was the second most powerful member of their band after him. Not having her take part had to weaken their control. Why didn't that worry him? Why did that dratted dragon have to come first in everything?

Zafira decided to go down and see for herself that all of Baby's food was gone. She found the trolls lounging around outside of the dragon's new hole. The four of them seemed to always be together lately, as if they were co-conspirators of some kind. It infuriated Zafira. It seemed as if the whole world was against her.

"What is this I hear about Baby being out of food?" Zafira asked.

"It's true," Burly said. He was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the castle wall. Even though the sun was fading, it was warm there because Baby's steamy breath drifted up and out of her new lair. "She's been calling all day for more food."

"She's a growing girl," Bluebell said. He was lying on a blanket on the other side of the dragon hole with Blabberwort.

"I'll just see for myself," Zafira said starting into the dark hole.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Mistress," Blabberwort said, sitting up. "It's slippery down there. And Baby might object to the intrusion. Going into a dragon's den can be nasty business."

"This monster is completely out of control."

"That she is, Mistress. That she is. But I have an idea to control her."

"What?"

"Magic mushrooms," Blabberwort said, jumping to her feet. "A good dose would lull her to sleep and keep her quiet most of the time. You'd hardly know she was around."

"You think?" the red headed fairy whispered.

"Oh, yes. We could give her a dose every day. Of course she'd go through it pretty fast. And you'd still need to bring her plenty of bean stalk. Magic mushrooms on an empty stomach would only make her roar more loudly."

"But if she takes some everyday she'll stay out of the way more?"

"Oh, yes. Course it's up to you. But I see how she's running you down, making you work so hard."

"Yeah," Bluebell said. "We're against hard work."

"It would be nice if she stayed out here and out of the way most of the time," Zafira said. "That's exactly what I'll do. I'll be back in a couple of hours with more bean stalk and enough Magic mushrooms to keep her quiet for two or three days." Zafira whipped some traveling dust from her pocket and threw it into the air. It sparkled around her for a moment and then she disappeared.

"Nicey nice!" Burly said, jumping to his feet.

"It didn't take too much to convince her," Bluebell said, getting up as well.

"She's desperate," Blabberwort said. "She'll do anything to get Baby out of her hair."

"Now all we have to do is keep Baby out of the way more."

"No problem," Burly said. "I think she'd rather stay in her new den, anyway. Baby? Baby, you down there?"

The dragon stuck her head above ground, a large piece of bean stalk hanging out of her mouth.

Burly patted her on the head. "You did good, Girl. Mazarin believed all that bellowing. He sent Zafira out for extra food for you."

"Yeah," Blabberwort said. "And we talked her into picking up a few Magic mushrooms for us along the way."

Baby cocked her head in a questioning manner. She had heard the trolls talk about magic mushrooms, but she didn't really know what they were.

"You're way too young for magic mushrooms," Blabberwort said.

"But they're just right for us," Bluebell said.

"Yeah. And whenever we need more, all we need to do is have Baby act like she did today."

"Good thing Baby is such a good actress. She really had Mazarin going."

"You enjoyed acting, didn't you Girl?" Burly asked the dragon.

Baby nudged Burly. She enjoyed anything that got her attention. Having Mazarin coo over her worriedly had been fun.

"She'll do anything to irritate Zafira," Blabberwort said. "Zafira and Baby hate each other."

At the sound of the hated name, Baby's yellow eyes narrowed. "Harrumph," she snorted.

"I think she agreed with you," Burly said.

- - - - - - - - - -

Virginia turned down dessert at dinner and instead told everyone she was turning in. Wolf was too busy celebrating her improved state with a second banana split to join her right away. So she slipped up the stairs alone, her feet dragging heavily against the red runners in the hallways. She felt as if her lack of sleep since Anthony's birth were finally catching up to her.

Anthony. Before going to her room, Virginia stopped to look in at her son. She hadn't seen him much since Matilde and Wolf had found her in the basement crying over her mother's murder. Anthony was seemingly all alone and sleeping peacefully in his basinet, untouched by his mother's fears. There was a single fairy light to keep him company, a cot that his father had slept on occasionally, and a rocking chair.

Virginia tiptoed to the basinet and peered in at her sleeping son. His dark hair was crushed against the back of his head and his dark eye lashes seemed impossibly long. She didn't think she could live with herself if anything ever happened to him, especially if she were the one to hurt him. She wanted to touch him, but somehow she was afraid to. How could she ever be a good enough mother to him?

Virginia stood watching Anthony sleep for some time before she became aware of Matilde standing behind her. She was carrying a glass filled with some potion.

"He's all alone," Virginia whispered.

"Not entirely," Matilde said, glancing at her white cane standing in the corner. Raphaela was obviously on guard. "He has a nursemaid. She must have taken a dinner break."

"I miss him."

"Of course you do. If you want, you can lie down here on the cot so you can be near him. I'll tell Wolf where you are. Tomorrow your father can begin putting in the new door between your rooms to make things easier."

"Not yet. I…still need some time."

"As you like. But you should visit him more often. And start doing little things to take care of him. Wolf spends a lot of time with him, but he needs his mother."

"Maybe tomorrow," Virginia said. She leaned closer to her son and ran her hand over him in the air. Then she walked toward the door.

Matilde closed it after them. "This will pass, you know."

"Was it this way with you?"

"Pretty much."

"For how long?"

"In my case, six months. But you've had my cane to help you heal. It won't be anything like that for you."

"But you've brought me more medicine," Virginia said, pointing to the glass of amber liquid that Matilde was still carrying.

"Just in case you need it. This potion is less for depression and more for simple new mother nerves."

"What's it called?"

"Motherwort," Matilde said with a smile. "You can guess why they call it that. Many women use it for the same purpose. You should keep it at your bedside just in case you need it to relax."

Virginia took the glass, opened the door, and hesitated as if she wanted to talk more, but couldn't find the words.

"It wasn't quite the same for me," Matilde said. "I was mourning my husband instead of replaying the past. I had fears of being a mother, but not of repeating a pattern. After you left tonight, Rose said that she thinks your tiredness is a sign that you're getting past the changes from your pregnancy. Now you're starting to face down your past life and your fears for the future, which can be every bit as difficult as facing down a giant. The only way to do that is to start back into your normal life, do what must be done, and let yourself become the person you were meant to be. I promise to help you in every way I can."

Virginia looked at Matilde for a moment and knew for the first time that her father had done a good thing in marrying her. Without a word, she put her free arm around her stepmother and gave her a warm embrace.

Matilde hugged her back. "You'd better get some sleep now. Rose also said that she's determined to get you involved in calisthenics with the wolf troops tomorrow. And I don't think she intends to take no for an answer."

Virginia gave Matilde a tired smile and did as she was told.

Matilde hesitated outside her closed door for a moment. Then she went off to meet Tony in their room.

"How is she?" Tony asked.

"Better I think," Matilde said with a sigh. "I think Rose is right. The depression seems to be lifting, but there are still her old anxieties to be dealt with."

Tony sat down heavily on their king-sized bed. "Even though Virginia isn't going through the same thing her mother did, I can't help reliving it a little."

"I'm reliving some things too. Virginia's situation reminds me a lot of what happened when Raphaela was born. I've been wondering how much worry my mother went through and feeling guilty about how much of a distance I kept from Raphaela at first."

Tony threaded his fingers through his wife's as she stood in front of him. "Well, I for one am glad Virginia has you and Leaf Fall and Rose. I'm not very good at dealing with all this emotional stuff. If I had been, maybe all this would have been easier for her."

"You're here for her now and that counts for an awful lot."

"At least she's sleeping tonight."

"Yes. And I suggest we do the same, in case she needs us later on."

Tony nodded his agreement. Before long they were snuggled close under their warm quilt. Tony snored as he often did and never woke up once.

But Matilde had strange dreams. She saw the snow falling heavily as it had been for the last several days. The sky was dark, almost in anger. Far away in the distance a voice called.

"Matilde?"

It was a woman's voice, but it was muffled as if the woman were speaking through a barrier. It sounded familiar somehow, but Matilde couldn't quite recognize it.

"Matilde! He's back!"

Matilde sat up suddenly, fully awake. "Back? Who's back?" she asked the dark room. But only Tony's snoring answered her.

Matilde got up and looked out of the window. It had stopped snowing. The sky was clearing and there was a sliver of moon showing. She would have taken it all as a good omen, except for the dream. All that snow, she thought. Snow. "Snow White? Was that you?" she asked the room again.

But again there was no answer.


	22. Chapter 22 Parting Clouds

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

**Parting Clouds?**

"All right," Rose called from the front of the ball room to the wolf soldiers gathered before her. "One more spring up from the ground."

"Cripes," Wolf swore under his breath. How many of these had they done? As per his sister's order, he leapt up suddenly from a crouched position into the air and back down again.

It had been two days since the turning point in Virginia's depression. She was feeling better and her family had pulled her further into a normal schedule. Rose had even managed to talk her into attending calisthenics with the wolf soldiers, along with Wolf. Virginia had Rose's permission to sit things out when she felt tired, but Rose expected Wolf to keep up with everyone else. Virginia was sitting next to her husband as he struggled to keep "springing."

The ballroom was their temporary gymnasium. Rose had hopes they could move outdoors by the end of the week, to the area near where she hoped the new Wolf Hall would someday be. The heavy snows were melting fast in the warm spring sun and everyone hoped the weather had finally turned.

"All right," Rose instructed. "Kobsa will now lead the full-blooded wolves outdoors to practice four legged maneuvers, while the part-wolves will work on swordplay."

Wolf let himself sprawl over the black and white tiles of the ballroom in mock exhaustion. He was actually in excellent shape because he'd been attending a fair amount of his sister's work-outs during the past few months.

"Are you going to practice swordplay?" Virginia asked with a smile.

"I don't want to," Wolf whispered as he sat up. "But I know I'll get a nasty look from Rose if I try to leave. I'm only doing this for you."

"But you come lots of times without me."

"On those days I do it for Rose. It's tiring, but it goes a long way toward keeping the family peace."

"Will you teach me how to use a sword?"

"You really want to learn?"

"Maybe. It's kind of glamorous in its way."

"It's also hard work. You're sure?"

Virginia gave him an eager nod.

"All right then." Wolf got them a couple of swords from the collection Rose had in the front of the room. "The first thing you need to do is learn how to grip a sword," Wolf said handing his wife a weapon.

Virginia tried to lift her sword the way Wolf did, but she couldn't. "I think I need something lighter."

"That's the lightest sword Rose brought. These are war weight. That is, they're weighted to do the most damage to your opponent."

"Oh, that's nice."

"You need to practice so your wrist gets strong, or you can't control the blade well. Lifting weights will help that."

Virginia couldn't see herself getting serious enough about this to take up weight lifting. It was just a momentary lark. "Well, what do I do in the meantime?"

"In the meantime use two hands and we'll work on your stance. You need to stand a certain way, you see?" Wolf placed himself in an exaggerated stance to demonstrate. "You need to center your weight so you can move easily from foot to foot and not be thrown off balance by the moves of your opponent."

"It's sort of like dancing."

"In a way." Wolf demonstrated moving with his sword high in the air.

Virginia raised hers awkwardly with two hands and tried to move at the same time. "I don't think I'm very good at this."

"It takes time."

"How are you doing?" Rose asked, appearing at their side with her own sword in hand. She was dressed in one of her suede suits with her red hair scattered over her shoulders. Lord Rupert was still trying to dress her in what he considered proper attire for a queen, but she was resisting more and more. Working with the wolf soldiers gave her a good excuse to dress more comfortably.

"I'm afraid I'll never be much of a swordsman," Virginia said, gratefully lowering her weapon. "Wolf seems good at it, though."

"He is," Rose agreed. "If he practiced more he'd be even better."

"I don't think I'll ever be as good as you," Wolf said. "You really thrive on it."

"You could do better if you didn't get so caught up in your own nervousness. You're very agile."

"Why aren't you practicing?" Virginia asked Rose.

"I don't have a partner."

"Then I think you should work with Wolf. I'm going to turn in my sword and get cleaned up."

"As you wish," Rose said. "I hope you'll come back tomorrow."

"Probably, though not for the swordplay. I'm going to have to work if I want to get back my girlish figure. I'm pudgier than I used to be, before Anthony I mean."

"I think you look great," Wolf said. And he meant it. He thought Virginia looked a little paler than she should. But her curves looked more luscious than ever.

"Well, I'm finding it hard to fit into my old dresses."

"Just have Rupert make you a few more," Rose said. "You'd be doing me a favor. If he's busy dressing you, he's less likely to bother me."

"All right," Virginia said with a smile. "As long as it's for you." She put her sword back and watched Wolf and Rose spar for a few minutes. Rose was definitely the finer swordsman, but Wolf seemed very good too. She wished their parents could see them now. Scarlet and Josiah would be proud of them. Scarlet. Virginia had met her while magically visiting the past. She had seemed like such a vibrant woman and such a good mother. Scarlet had removed herself from the line of succession in the Second Kingdom for the sake of love and dedicated herself to her family. She was a pretty tough act to follow. Virginia wondered if she would ever be half the mother that Scarlet had been.

With a sigh, Virginia went up to her room.

There still wasn't a connecting door to Anthony's nursery, but Tony promised to have it done before the week was out. After cleaning up, Virginia went to visit her son. She had been spending more time with him, but hadn't begun feeding him again. An older nursemaid oversaw most of his needs. She was already in Anthony's room when Virginia went in. She was sitting in the wooden rocker with her charge on the lap of her white skirt. Anthony was playing with a little a toy with tiny bells on it.

"Where did he get that?" Virginia asked.

"The toy?" the nursemaid asked, looking up over the top of her glasses. "The Lady Pura gave it to him last night. She said bells are supposed to be lucky for babies. That the gypsies say it protects them from bad magic. I've never heard that, but I don't know much about gypsy magic."

"Neither do I. But I guess you can't be too careful," Virginia said. Back home she would have dismissed the bell thing as silly superstition, but in the Nine Kingdoms, you could never be certain.

"Do you want to hold him?"

Virginia hesitated for a moment. "OK," she said, reaching out tentatively.

The nursemaid got up from the rocking chair and let Virginia sit down before she handed over the baby. Anthony sank into his mother's arms, all warm and pliant, burrowing into her lap and ever further into her heart.

"May I go for a while?" the nursemaid asked. "I could use a break. It's hard for these old bones to sit in one place for so long."

"Of course," Virginia said.

And the old nurse went off in a swish of white skirts.

Virginia looked down at her son and marveled at the miracle of him. He looked up at her intently for a moment. Then he returned to shaking his new toy. He would shake it and stare at it till the bells grew silent, as if he were trying to understand how it worked but couldn't quite.

Virginia slid her arms further around him and softly ran her cheek across his dark hair. For a while, there was no one else in the world except the two of them. "Mommy loves you," she said gently.

Anthony answered by drooling on his new toy.

If Virginia had felt more comfortable she would have rocked him. But for some reason she felt nervous again. She got up carefully and placed him back in his basinet. Then she stood and watched him till he fell asleep. "I'll try and be a good mommy to you," Virginia whispered as he slept. "But you've gotta give me a little time to get the hang of you. I'm lucky I've got so much help. And that you've got such a good Daddy. I wish I was as comfortable with this parent thing as Wolf is. He seems to know just what to do. Maybe it's cos your Grandma Scarlet was such a great mother. I didn't have such a good example on my side."

Virginia wished she could avoid telling Anthony about his Grandmother Christine. But there was always the chance that he would find out from somebody else. Everybody in the Nine Kingdoms knew about the Evil Queen. It was only a matter of time before some cruel person taunted him with the news that his Grandmother Christine was a homicidal maniac, who even tried to kill her own daughter, even when she was just a child.

The memory of Christine trying to drown her as a child flashed through Virginia's mind…the blue wash cloth, the scalding water, the struggle to resist her mother as she pushed her under. Suddenly the walls of the nursery felt like they were closing in on her. The nursemaid still wasn't back, but Virginia assumed she would be soon. So she left the door open and went back to her room.

As it turned out, the nursemaid didn't return for some time. But Anthony wasn't alone. Matilde's cane was once again close at hand, leaning against the wall by Anthony's basinet, silently watching over him.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Wolf finished working out, a delegation of wolves came up to him. A brown and tan full-blooded wolf had been chosen to speak. "There have been complaints," the lead wolf said.

"About what?" Wolf asked, wiping his face with a towel from his room.

"The snowy winter has left depleted game. Human hunters are at greater odds than usual with our people. We've heard of several skirmishes since the snows have stopped falling."

"I haven't," Rose said, standing by with her sword still in hand.

"I beg your pardon, your majesty," the wolf said, with a submissive nod of his brown and tan head. "Perhaps King Wendell didn't tell you because he didn't want to worry you."

Rose's lips tightened till all the color faded from her freckles. Her green eyes narrowed. With a swish of her sword she exited quickly from the room.

"The skirmishes haven't been serious," the brown and tan wolf said. "But they might get that way if planting season can't begin soon. Fear over food can make both our peoples act foolishly."

"What do you want me to do?" Wolf asked.

"We think maybe you should send out word to our people, urging them to be calm and saying that you're working with King Wendell to settle things. It might help. There's a faction that's speaking against you, led by an older wolf named Camus. He says you don't really represent our interests."

"Camus? That name sounds familiar."

"He's an older full-blooded wolf with a spotted snout."

"Huff-puff, that's just what we need! Tell everyone I'll speak to King Wendell as soon as I can."

"Yes, your highness," the brown and tan wolf said, stepping backward.

"I just need to clean up first."

- - - - - - - - - -

Rose, however, didn't care about cleaning up. She strode into Wendell's study with the assurance that only a well-loved queen can have. As usual Wendell was speaking with his Chancellor, muttering over some piece of paper. Rose threw open the door and let it hit against the opposite wall. She looked like an avenger of some kind, standing there with flashing green eyes and a raised sword. The Chancellor blanched at the sight of her. But Wendell kept a cooler head.

"Darling?" he said gently. One should always be gentle when faced with a woman carrying a sword.

"Why didn't you tell me about these skirmishes between the humans and the wolves?"

Wendell blinked twice. "Which ones?"

"Which ones?" Rose asked, her voice getting louder. "What do you mean which ones? How many have there been?"

"Quite a few actually. But they've been small. They've mostly been over hunting grounds. The Chancellor and I were talking about opening the castle's private storehouse to some of the more needy areas so there won't be as much conflict. The extended winter caused a lot of people and animals to empty out their larders."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you had other things to think of. You've been taking care of Virginia and serving as the spiritual leader of our wolf troops. This was an affair of state."

"That concerns my people."

"Yes. If it had been more serious I would have told you about it, but you haven't shown that much interest in the affairs of the Fourth Kingdom, outside of the wolf troops."

Rose's green eyes lost their ferocity. "Are you saying I haven't been paying enough attention to what's happening in the Fourth Kingdom at large?"

"No. You can pay attention to whatever you want. Snow White and Cinderella always paid a lot of attention to affairs of state. But not everyone does. For instance, Sleeping Beauty was very much the castle-warming homebody. And Rapunzel was involved mostly in motherhood related issues. She still is, judging from the way she haunts her son."

"I'm more comfortable with a sword in my hand leading troops. It feels more familiar."

"But it wasn't long ago when that was new to you as well," Wendell reminded her. "You only became a soldier during The Giant War."

"I'm not comfortable playing the perfect lady like Snow White or Cinderella or even Matilde."

"Well, I think Matilde is rather too outspoken to be a perfect lady. But there's no reason why you have to be like any of them. Gretel the Great certainly wasn't."

The light of recognition came on in Rose's eyes. For the first time she realized what kind of queen she was. She would never be Snow White. She was more like Gretel, the one who liked to hunt and stand at the front of an army. The one who rallied her people to stand against the giants and trolls when necessary."

"Of course, I like the way you look in those fussy gowns that Rupert likes to dress you in," Wendell said. "But you also make quite the dashing figure in the clothes you have on now." Wendell's eyes floated over her. "I like the way it clings to your every curve…the power and passion that it shows in your muscles…your hair flying wildly…" He breathed heavily. "It makes me want to…"

The Chancellor cleared his throat to remind the royal couple of his presence.

"Yes, of course," Wendell said, blushing slightly. "We can discuss that later."

Rose smiled a secret smile. Then she put down her sword and said, "So tell me again what you and the Chancellor are planning to do about this."

- - - - - - - - - -

When Wolf got to his room he saw a maid coming out with a tray. "Is everything all right?" he asked, a little worried that Virginia might be having a relapse.

"Oh, she's fine," the young woman replied, nodding her curly head. "The princess asked for a potion of Motherwort to help her relax. She's a little tired from the morning's activities is all. It's the first day of real exercise that she's had since the wee one's birth. My sister went through exactly the same thing after her own daughter was born. It's good to be active as long as you don't overdo. I'm sure she'll be all right after her nap. She was almost nodding off to sleep before I left the room." And with a smile and another nod, the young woman departed, heading for the stairs just as Timka came up.

"Wolf!" Timka called excitedly. "I missed you in the ballroom. The snow is fading and it looks like a fine day for hunting! I can get bows and arrows and meet you downstairs in…"

"I can't," Wolf said.

"But it's a fine day and the game will be coming out to enjoy the sun."

"Virginia's not feeling well again. And I have to talk to Wendell and…"

"How about after that?"

"After that, I have to spend some time with Anthony." He nodded his head in the direction of his son's room and lowered his voice to a whisper. He could see the door was open and assumed from the quiet that the child was sleeping. But he couldn't see that the nurse wasn't there or he would have gone in to check on the baby at once. "I've barely looked in on him today. I try to spend as many hours as possible with him. I have to be both parents to him right now, until Virginia is feeling better."

"You never have any time for me anymore," Timka said sullenly.

"There's just been so much to do. I hardly have time to huff or puff."

"You have time to work out with Rose's troops."

"I do that to make Rose happy…or Virginia, depending on which day it is. You could join us if you wanted to. Rose would like it if you did."

"I'd rather hunt."

"You could practice your swordsmanship."

"You've shown me enough of that already. It's hard and it's boring. I prefer the bow and arrow. I don't want to be a soldier."

"Suit yourself. But I have to look in on Virginia now, make sure she's all right."

Timka's lips tightened into a pout, but Wolf didn't notice. He left the youngster in the hall without another word.

Virginia was almost asleep when Wolf came in. She murmured softly as he got into bed next to her and snuggled into his chest with a sleepy smile.

"Are you all right?" Wolf whispered."

"Mmmuch better," Virginia said, "just need nap."

Wolf cuddled her closer and buried his face in her hair. He caught Anthony's scent on her skin and clothing. So he knew she had gone in to see him for a while. That was good. As he closed his eyes, Wolf let himself dream that things would be better soon.

As for Timka, he was still standing outside of Virginia and Wolf's room, his lips tightening into an even bigger pout. His mother had been right. Ever since Anthony's birth, he had become unimportant in Wolf's life. He wasn't the son and heir he'd dreamed of being. He was only a nephew.

Timka's eyes slid toward the open door of his cousin's room. He was old enough on some level to understand, but he was still young enough to feel senselessly angry at the same time. During all the winters he'd spent at the gypsy camp grounds alone with his mother, he'd watched the various fathers and sons grow closer while hunting and doing things for their extended families. It hurt that he and his mother were perpetual outsiders. That he would never feel included or have a father who could understand all the things boys feel. He'd been hoping that he'd finally found that. But it had been snatched away…because of Anthony.

He'd only seen the baby once on the day after his birth. He and Pura had paid the proper call at the time with the proper gift in hand. He knew his mother had visited several times since, offering gypsy advice to the old nurse, as well as bringing a couple more small gifts. But Timka hadn't gone back. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to go in and look at his cousin, to see what was so special about him.

Timka approached the open door cautiously. Like Wolf, he expected the old nanny to be there. But she wasn't. The scent in the room told him she hadn't been there for a while. And that Virginia had been there recently, but only briefly. He closed the door as he went in and stood over Anthony for what seemed like an eternity, scowling and gripping the side of the basinet till his hands shook and his lower lip trembled.

Raphaela pulled away from the wall and stood at the ready.

"How come you get everything?" Timka asked his cousin.

Anthony heard the voice over him and opened his eyes. Sighing, he waved the toy Pura had left him the day before. He'd managed to hold onto it while he slept. The little bells tinkled sweetly.

Pura had given Timka a similar toy when he was young. She'd kept it as a keepsake after he'd gotten too old to play with it. As corroded as the cheap metal had become over the years, Timka was pretty sure she still had it. At least his mother had always been there for him. It occurred to Timka that motherly love was absent from Anthony's life at the moment. And that the missing nanny wasn't much of a replacement. Maybe Anthony didn't have everything after all. Maybe they had something in common, for they were both missing a parent. Timka reached down and touched the baby's hand. Instinctively Anthony wrapped his tiny fingers around one of his cousin's larger ones.

Timka rested his head against the top of the basinet as his eyes filled with tears. He wanted to hate his baby cousin, but he couldn't. He remembered Wolf telling him once that in wolf culture it was the responsibility of everyone in the pack to watch out for the young ones. Why couldn't it have been like that for him when he was young?

"The first thing you gotta learn is that life isn't always fair," Timka said out loud. "So you gotta be tough."

Anthony made a soft "Ah," sound and squinted in deep concentration at his cousin's face.

Timka willed back the tears and wiped his face on the sleeve of his free arm, while Anthony continued holding onto the other.

Raphaela leaned silently back against the wall. The boys were too young to understand it yet, but she sensed the tie of destiny between them.

Timka was still there when the old nanny finally came back. He was quick to take out his anger on her and told her off severely for leaving Anthony alone for so long. The nanny defended herself by saying that she thought the child's mother had been with him. But Timka said he knew from the scent in the room that Virginia had only stayed a few minutes and that considering the way she had been acting, she couldn't be counted on to do more than that anyway.

"It's your job to stay with him," Timka complained. "If you don't do what you're paid for, I'll complain to my uncle and you'll find yourself without a job." And with that, he strode righteously off.

"What a bad tempered boy," the nurse clucked. "And ill-mannered too."

- - - - - - - - - -

It had cost a lot of extra money, but Victor finally got enough hired mercenaries from the Fifth Kingdom to begin the uprisings again. It was a good thing that Gavrilo had deep pockets. Wendell's cousin Barron thought he was funding everything, but this new set of uprisings was going to cost more than he knew Barron would be willing to pay. Most of the men needed to hire others to plant their farms for them while they were gone and a few complained of the dangers of their hiding places in the Fourth Kingdom, especially the Disenchanted Forest. They'd heard that even the gypsies didn't go into there anymore. Some said they'd heard the phantom hooves of satyrs there and seen shadows of hsigo watching them from the tops of the trees.

"You sound like a bunch of frightened children!" Victor said, standing even taller than usual. "Real men aren't afraid of shadows. Satyrs and hsigo are nothing more than animals! Have any of you seen anything more than shadows? Hmm? Of course not! And do you know why? Because satyrs and hsigo are nothing more than cowardly animals. If any of you actually saw one of them, I bet you wouldn't even have to break a sweat to kill it. There's no animal in the world that can stand up to a strong man and that's what we're going to prove. If you don't think you can stand up to wolves or shadows of hsigos, we don't want you!"

There was some grumbling. But for the most part, this argument worked. The more nervous men decided to stay home and the ones who agreed to join were even more ruthless than the last group had been. As Wendell talked with his Chancellor and Rose about ways in which to quiet the smaller confrontations that had been taking place over game, Victor and his men were sneaking back into the Fourth Kingdom to prepare for the next wave of serious uprisings.

- - - - - - - - - -

Mazarin stood with Zafira in front of the mirror he used to contact his followers. "This part I can do myself," he said. "And then we will be ready. Mirror….show me the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson!"

The surface of the mirror darkened and then lightened to reveal a vision of the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson instructing a lesser lord on the finer points of croquet. The ground was still too messy to play the game outside. But that wasn't a problem because the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson had an indoor court complete with artificial grass and trees in the basement of the Snoozing Castle.

The lesser lord had actually come to see Duke Jack Sprat the Fourth who was overseeing most of the duties of the Sixth Kingdom, but the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson had seen him arrive and insisted on a game. The lesser lord didn't like to alienate royalty, even crazy royalty. You never knew when you might need a favor. And so there he was, trying very hard to act as if he had a real interest in learning croquet and doing his best to ignore the dishabille of his liege lord, who was clothed only in a cape to keep out the spring chill. The royal dressers had managed to convince him that his finer (invisible) cape was too light to wear in colder weather.

"Poor fellow," Mazarin said. "He looks as if he wants to be away from there. I don't blame him. The Naked Emperor's Great Grandson is a tiresome fool. Let's see what we can do to make him more exciting. The minds of the insane are very open to magical suggestion. The greater the madness, the easier to control." Mazarin waved his hand over the vision of the mad monarch.

"A happy fool is such a bore," Mazarin chanted.

"So you won't be one anymore.

From this point on you will find,

That only darkness rules your mind.

"You'll desire now to kill and maim.

Cruelty will be your aim.

They say you're mad and mad you'll be,

Forever on the count of three…One, Two, THREE!"

Mazarin clapped his hands and immediately the demeanor of the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson changed. His face drew into a sneer and he looked over at the lesser lord suspiciously. "You were thinking of raising that mallet against me while my back was turned, weren't you?" he accused.

The lesser lord shook his head. He thought he must have heard wrong. "Excuse me, your Majesty?"

"You heard me! You thought to strike me down as soon as my back was turned. I've heard the things people say about me. They say I'm mad and they want me out of the way. So they put Jack Sprat in my place and sent you here to kill me. But I've seen through your plot!"

"Your majesty!"

"Turn against me, will you?" The mad monarch raised his mallet into the air like a weapon and brought it down quickly upon the head of the lesser lord.

In a manner of seconds, the scene went from a quiet, somewhat embarrassing game of croquet to a bludgeoning murder. The Naked Emperor's Great Grandson delivered three killing blows before the servants were able to pull him away. By that time, it was too late to do much for the lesser lord.

"There!" Mazarin said with delight as he watched from his magic mirror. "Now he's much more interesting. Don't you think, my Dear?"

"Yes," Zafira said, moving closer.

"Now all we have to do is wait for a couple of days for the rest of the Nine Kingdoms to take action. Of course they'll remove our maniacal friend as quickly and quietly as possible and put Jack Sprat in his place. Then they'll do a big splashy coronation to blot out today's horror. That's when we shall make our move. Till then, we can take a well deserved leisure. Where's Baby?"

Zafira's left eyebrow rose up dangerously. "Baby is at the back of the castle in that hole of hers. Probably with the trolls. They spend most of their time back there together." Her tone was clearly one of disapproval, but as usual Mazarin didn't notice.

"I'll look in on her," Mazarin said, waving away the vision in the mirror as the royal servants continued trying to subdue the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson.

Zafira made no attempt to follow her Master. As usual, she was angry that he preferred the dragon's company to hers. But all she had to do was wait a couple more days and that would end. She would have the magic talisman that would solve all her romantic problems. Then Mazarin would be hers and hers alone.


	23. Chapter 23 Godparent

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

**Godparent**

The change in the nature of the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson spread quickly through the Nine Kingdoms. Duke Jack Sprat the Fourth immediately sent word to Matilde and Leaf Fall and told them that he was trying to keep it quiet, but information has a life of its own. Before nightfall, the news had been passed across every back fence and sheep meadow in the Sixth Kingdom. By the end of the next day, everyone in the Nine Kingdoms seemed to know about it. They were all horrified.

The Naked Emperor's Great Grandson had always been odd, but he'd never shown any signs of being dangerous. Virginia had seen him at Wendell's coronation after the troll dust Wolf had snuck into everyone's drinks had worn off. He worked very hard at brushing off imaginary dust from his imaginary clothes while his courtiers tried to keep him covered. Unlike some of the guests, he showed no trace of anger. Red Riding Hood the Third complained bitterly that her new dress had been badly wrinkled from lying on the floor. But the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson gave her a wide smile and told her to talk to his tailor about ordering a gown out of the same "lustrous material" that he was wearing because it was so wrinkle resistant. Virginia had had to laugh at that. What had happened to him?

Matilde told the family the full story over dinner the night after it happened. "He tries to attack everyone who comes near him now. They've had to lock him up in the Snoozing Castle's dungeon. It's such a shame. He's always been eccentric and simple-minded, but he's never raised a hand against anyone."

"Could your cane perhaps cure him?" Wendell asked.

"No. It can't cure madness. It might ease it for a time, but that's all."

"So what is the Council going to do?" Tony asked.

"There's only one thing we can do. Keeping the Sixth Kingdom on a sure footing is our first priority. We're going to hold a coronation at once for Jack Sprat. Cinderella insists a big ball will help block out the tragedy of what's happened. She's probably already at the Snoozing Castle seeing to everything. Leaf Fall is going there first thing tomorrow with her husband. And there will be other crowned heads there as well."

"What about Eranthis?" Tony asked. He and Matilde were scheduled to meet with the dwarf king at Dragon Mountain in two days to discuss the electrical system that was being put into place there. In general, the dwarves were very nervous about Tony's coming. After all, the last time he'd been there he'd destroyed several mirrors. Most of the Ninth Kingdom referred to him as "the Breaker." It was only with reassurances from Eranthis that he would be overseeing Tony every minute that they were letting him come. If Eranthis was going to the coronation, the trip would have to be postponed.

"Eranthis isn't going to the coronation," Matilde said. "He thinks it's more important to fix the problems with the new electrical system. He's sending his son and daughter-in-law to the coronation instead. Wendell is sending his Chancellor because he and Rose want to keep an eye on the recent disturbances here. Cole and his Chancellor are staying home because of the continuing unrest in the Fifth Kingdom. But Red is going…and so am I."

"You?" Tony asked. "I thought you were coming with me to Dragon Mountain?"

"You don't need me to talk electricity. You and Eranthis will do just fine. He understands completely."

"You told Eranthis before you told me?"

"It made sense to tell him when I told him about the coronation. It's important for the president of the Council and the leaders of the Ice Maidens to appear at these functions. Especially when there's been such a tragedy."

"You didn't go to Wendell's coronation. You sent Brutus."

"Yes. And Brutus will be attending this time as well."

"Then why do you have to go?" Tony asked, his voice rising impatiently.

Everyone at the table looked calmly from Tony to Matilde. It wasn't unusual for them to have these public "discussions." They often got loud, but never heated enough to worry anybody. The day after, they always came down late to breakfast, gazing contently into each other's eyes.

"Wendell's coronation was supposed to be routine," Matilde said. "And everyone considered me to be a recluse at the time. Since you've come into my life that has changed. Now everybody expects me to be involved in everything. I have to go. And so does Brutus. Alicia will be there as well as the older Ice Maidens."

"I don't like it," Tony said.

"I know you don't. But that's the way it's going to be. So get used to it."

Tony's brown eyes flashed for a moment as he considered whether or not he should fight on or capitulate. "Can we at least wear those mirror pendants that we carried during The Giant War while we're apart?"

Matilde smiled at the remembrance. "Of course. I'll leave as soon as the coronation is over. I promise. It won't be for any longer than two or three nights. If you're not done with your business with Eranthis by then, I'll come and meet you at Dragon Mountain."

"Promise?" Tony asked, his face falling into a little boy look. Basically, he was telling Matilde that she'd won the argument, but that he wanted his ego stroked.

"Promise," Matilde said, patting his hand. And with that the issue was dropped.

Timka looked at Tony and Matilde as if they were crazy. His mother had nagged him into joining everyone for dinner. He was still angry at Wolf, and by proxy Virginia and Rose and everyone else. To take his mind off his irritation, he concentrated on eating. He was the only one at the royal table who really seemed to have an appetite that night. For the most part everyone left their chicken entrée untouched. The news of the Naked Emperor's Great Grandson had spoiled their appetites.

"Your Majesty!" a woman's voice called from the front of the dining room.

Everyone at the royal table turned around. It was Anthony's nursemaid, looking quite perturbed. Wolf and Virginia jumped to their feet at once, followed closely by Wendell and Matilde. Matilde had hired the wet nurse, who was a fairy. But this older nursemaid was a human who had been hired by Wendell after Virginia's descent into depression. Wolf had been too busy trying to hold his family together to decide on a nanny. Matilde had wanted to bring in another fairy from her kingdom and Rose had wanted a wolf. Wendell had argued that it would look better to the ordinary humans of the Nine Kingdoms if they hired a human nursemaid.

"That way the wolf prince will be suckled by a fairy and brought up by a human. Don't you think that has the ring of destiny to it?" Wendell had asked.

The others couldn't argue with that. So Wendell had hired Anthony's human nanny, choosing someone older who he thought would have more experience.

"Your Majesty!" The nanny marched up to Wendell and shoved her glasses up her nose. "I have just been attacked!"

The rest of the royal table got up.

"What?" Wolf asked excitedly. "Is Anthony all right?"

"Oh, he's just fine," the nanny said. "I'm the one who was attacked. That cane that you've been leaving in the nursery. It attacked me. I was putting the child down for the night and it attacked me without cause. I ran out of the room and it chased me down the hall!"

Wolf and Virginia were out of the dining room in a flash. The rest of the royal family ran after them, leaving the nursemaid huffing to herself in the dining room.

The door to Anthony's room was closed when Wolf and Virginia got there. Wolf whipped it open to reveal Raphaela standing over Anthony's basinet in her visual form. She looked almost corporal, with the solidness of the twisted wood of the cane barely visible at her center. Wolf didn't recognize her at first because his time with her had been so short after his visit to the past. But Virginia recognized her at once.

"Raphaela," Virginia said.

Raphaela turned her head toward them. "Good evening, Little Sister."

"You're the spirit of the cane," Wolf said, realizing at last who she was.

"Yes."

Wolf moved toward his son. The baby was lying contentedly on his back, playing with the bell toy that Pura had given him. Every now and again he would laugh a happy little baby laugh.

"What happened?" Virginia asked.

"She took his toy," Raphaela said with an aggravated shake of her head. The platinum blond curls gathered at the back of her head eerily did not move. "She wanted him to go to sleep and he wanted to play. When she took the toy he started crying. Instead of singing him to sleep as she sometimes does, she started to complain at him. So he cried louder. At that point I'd had enough of her. I mean, what did she think she was doing?"

The rest of the family appeared at the nursery door at that point. Rose, Wendell, Pura, and Timka all looked surprised at the other-worldly vision of Raphaela. But Tony and Matilde exchanged a concerned look.

"This is the spirit of Matilde's cane," Wolf said by way of introduction. Then he turned back to Raphaela. "I hope you don't mind my saying it, but you look like an ice fairy."

"I was," Raphaela said.

Wendell herded the rest of the family into the nursery and closed the door behind them so they could have privacy.

"How did you get to be a cane?"

"I was changed into a white vine by a follower of Mazarin. When I died, my grandmother cut out the heart of the vine and used the magic of her crystal ball to bring me back to life as a healing spirit." Raphaela turned to Matilde. "Mother, I think they need to hear the truth."

All eyes turned to Matilde.

"She's your daughter, isn't she?" Virginia said. "The one Kai told us about. He just couldn't remember her name. You brought her back to life…as a cane??"

"My grandmother did that," Raphaela said.

"So she could live out her destiny as a healer," Matilde said. "I kept it a secret so Mazarin's surviving followers wouldn't find out and hurt her."

"But…you've been carrying your daughter around as a cane??" It sounded horrible to Virginia, as if she had been existing in a prison. "How old are you?" she asked Raphaela. To her the floating vision appeared to be about her age.

"I'm almost my mother's age, nearly five hundred. But I was about your age when I died."

"Five hundred years…imprisoned in a cane? What kind of life is that?" Virginia turned on Matilde. "How could you do that to her?"

"It's what I wanted, little Sister," Raphaela said.

"No one wants to be a cane."

"It's not unusual for fairy spirits to live on in inanimate objects," Raphaela said. "Sometimes people trust something more when it doesn't appear alive. Would you have opened up to me as readily if I had appeared to you like this?"

"I…I don't know," Virginia admitted.

"There are other good points as well. When I was like you, I couldn't see into people's minds or bring them together with other spirits. I've actually gained by being what I am."

"But you've been staying in my room and seeing all kinds of private things!" Virginia put her hands over her face. "I don't wanna think about this right now!"

"Shh," Wolf urged. "Anthony is falling asleep." Unlike Virginia, he wasn't shocked at the idea of fairies living in inanimate objects.

"I'm not technically alive," Raphaela said. "I've just started being able to appear like this and my ability to move solid objects is limited, especially in this visual form. It uses up a lot of my power." She waved her hand at the rocker and it rocked just a touch. "That allowed me to retrieve Anthony's toy from the floor where that foolish woman dropped it."

"Why didn't you tell us all this before?" Virginia demanded.

"Because we knew it would upset you," Tony said.

"You knew about this too?"

"Matilde told me most of it when we started going together."

"You should've told us."

"It wasn't necessary for you to know everything at once," Matilde said. "And you needed Raphaela so much; we didn't want to interfere with that."

"And besides that," Raphaela said, "my mother has always been overprotective."

"You were barely more than a baby when you died," Matilde said defensively. "How was I supposed to act? After I got you back, I lived in fear that you would be taken away from me again."

"It's been five hundred years, Mother. I have my own destiny now."

"And what is that?" Virginia asked.

"I'd like to be Anthony's godmother."

Wolf gasped. "That would be wonderful! Did you hear that, Virginia? That such a special fairy should choose Anthony as her godchild! And she's his aunt too! Just think! You've got another sister, Virginia!"

"I think we'd better give you some time to get acquainted," Wendell said.

"Please, don't tell anyone," Matilde said.

"Mother!" Raphaela said with a groan.

Rose led the way out of the room with Pura close behind. Wendell tried to pilot Timka out the door, but the teenager pulled away. The last thing anyone needed right then was a wrestling match, so Wendell left Timka where he was.

"I don't know how I feel about this," Virginia said after the nursery door had closed again.

"What do you mean?" Wolf said. "It's wonderful!"

"Yeah, you said that. But I'm not so sure."

"I know it's a little shocking," Tony said.

"More than a little," Virginia said. "What other secrets have you been keeping?" she asked Matilde.

"This is the only one."

"You're sure about that now? Really sure?"

"I know you've been having trouble adjusting to your father's marriage," Raphaela said.

"Do you know everything about me?" Virginia said, turning back to Raphaela. "Everything I've been thinking these past few months?"

"When I touch people I feel their thoughts. But only so far as they allow me to."

"But since most people think you're a cane, they probably don't try to order you out of their heads, do they?"

"That's one of the advantages of my situation, yes."

"Very convenient," Virginia said snidely.

"Virginia!" Wolf said. "Where are your manners? Raphaela has been helping us these past few months. She's been keeping you well and watching over our little cub. She even protected you from Barron that time at the Council meeting."

"But I thought she was a cane."

"Yes. But how much better to find out that she's your sister and the godmother of our son."

"I haven't said she could be his godmother yet," Virginia said, trembling.

"On this side of the mirror, godparents tend to choose themselves," Wolf pointed out. "So far she's been doing a good job. She's been watching over Anthony, supervising the nanny, and who knows what else."

"Nobody asked her to do that."

"She wouldn't have had to do it, if you'd been doing your job!" Timka said.

"Timka!" Wolf said.

"It's true. Everyone's tiptoeing around Virginia, treating her like an invalid. While Anthony goes without a mother."

"Virginia's doing the best she can," Matilde said.

"I don't need you defending me," Virginia said to Matilde.

"My mother never got half the help Virginia's been getting," Timka said.

"That's enough, Timka!" Wolf said his eyes glowing yellow.

Timka's eyes began to glow as well and a snarl escaped his lips. It was a challenge, a statement. Timka was telling Wolf that he was beginning to doubt his leadership. Wolf snarled back and the two of them stood for a moment in a staring contest. Then Timka broke off eye contact and slammed out of the room.

"I really worry about that boy," Tony said.

"He's full of pain," Raphaela said.

"What? Did you get inside his head too?" Virginia asked.

"I'm sorry," Matilde said. "I should have brought it all out into the open after Tony and I were married."

"I think it worked better this way," Raphaela said. "Virginia is angry now. But not knowing who I was made it easier for her mother to contact her through me."

Virginia looked down at the swirling green decoration in the nursery carpet. The last dream conversation with her mother had been very important. It had gone a long way to healing her heart. She wondered if she would have been able to start moving out of her depression without it.

"May I talk to Virginia alone?" Raphaela asked.

There was a moment of hesitation, but everyone nodded their agreement and filed out.

Wolf was the last to leave. He kissed his wife on the head and told her to, "Be good."

"I know you feel betrayed," Raphaela said floating closer. "But is it really so bad to find out you have another step-sister? You've already accepted Leaf. I've accepted her too, although she doesn't know it. I've had to live as a secret for so long; I'd like to put that behind me…at least starting with the family. I know my mother can be bossy, but she isn't so bad. If you give her a chance, you'll get used to her. As for me, I go from being impatient to being detached. I sometimes think I've taken on the worst of each of my parents."

"But Matilde said you never met your father. That he died before you were born."

Raphaela looked away for a moment. "Sisters tell each other secrets, don't they?"

"Yes, sometimes."

"Then I'll tell you one, but you're forbidden to tell my mother."

Virginia couldn't help it; she leaned forward and waited with interest.

"I went back through time as you did when you met Wolf's parents. I visited my father by pretending to be a patient. He was a very dedicated healer and he made me want to be one too, to take up where he left off. I also saw my mother as a young woman. She was very confused and unsure if she really wanted to be queen. I think that's why she later married Centaurea. He was always so sure of everything. With him she began to feel comfortable about following in my grandmother's footsteps. He made her believe she could be a great queen. I didn't like Centaurea much, but I believe he did her good."

"And how do you feel about her marrying my father?"

"I think that at last someone has come along who makes her happy. She was too much in awe of my father and Centaurea. Your father and my mother tend to meet each other head-on like two old warriors. Sometimes they battle, but their love is never in question. I wish I had gotten a chance to have a relationship like that."

"I'm sorry…that you died."

"It was my destiny. At least it brought me a new sister. And a godson, if you'll do me that honor." Raphaela floated to Anthony's basinet and looked down lovingly at him.

Virginia saw the look on her new stepsister's face and she knew what her answer had to be. "No," she said warmly. "I'm the one who would be honored."

- - - - - - - - - -

"You know it has to be this way," Zafira said. She had found Mazarin in his bedroom sitting in front of his altar. "We're using the mirror from the North Sea to save on power. We can't use travel dust to go through the dimensions because then we wouldn't have enough magic to take over this new kingdom right away. It would jeopardize the curse on this side of the mirror as well. Anything that can't go through the mirror must stay here. You know that."

"But Baby. I can't leave her behind. Not again." Mazarin picked up Baby's baby tooth from his makeshift altar and fingered it. He felt tears coming to his eyes.

"She won't fit through the mirror!" Zafira insisted. "And the three we leave behind to watch over things will have to conserve their magic so that the curse continues as planned and Snow White remains entombed till all is finished. They won't be able to bring the large amounts of food that Baby will need because it will require too much magic." Zafira bent over Mazarin, all traces of the willing servant were gone. "Before we leave, you have to bring Baby to old Bean Town. She'll have plenty of beanstalks and everyone will be too caught up with the curse to notice her. When the curse is complete we can bring her to our side of the mirror with traveling dust."

Mazarin knew she was right. There was no other way, but it hurt to have to separate again so soon. Taking over this new kingdom wouldn't be half as much fun if he couldn't take Baby for a romp through it.

"I think we should tell her at once," Zafira said. "She'll need to leave as soon as you make your address to the kingdoms."

"Do we have to tell her right now?"

"People have already started arriving for Sprat's coronation! By tomorrow most of them will be there. You have to tell Baby now!"

Mazarin got up slowly, leaning heavily on his onyx cane. With a sigh, he led the way to Baby's new den at the back of the castle. Zafira followed, a triumphant smile on her face.

The trolls were there already. They had just had a few magic mushrooms and were feeling very relaxed and happy.

"Oh, Master!" Blabberwort said, jumping up from her spot on the ground. "How have you been?"

"We were just resting in-between chores," Bluebell explained, scratching his beard.

"We'll be heading out hunting soon," Burly said, stretching out on the ground further.

"Where's Baby?" Mazarin asked.

"In her hole as usual," Burly said.

"Call her out."

Burly thought it was weird that Mazarin didn't call her himself, but it wasn't his job to question. He sat up and leaned over the smoothed entrance to the dragon's den. "Baby! Hey, Baby! Your Daddy wants ya!"

Zafira winced at the word "Daddy," but let it go.

Baby came prancing out of her den twitching with excitement like a great green dog. She wrapped her purple wings around Mazarin and ran her long tongue over his face.

Mazarin smiled indulgently and hugged her neck sadly. "That's a good girl. I have some bad news for you."

Baby pulled back and looked at the wizard worriedly. She'd seen this attitude before when he told he was leaving her home dimension. She'd joined a band of her own kind in his absence and it had been fun in its own way. But she'd missed him terribly. She was happier here with Mazarin close at hand and three new troll friends to look after her. She also had a brand new earth den and an endless supply of beanstalk. Life was good. Did it have to change again?

"You know we're going on to a new kingdom soon, through the mirror in the great hall. I wish I could take you, but I can't. You've grown way too big to get through such a small mirror. You're a full grown lady now."

Baby understood. She was being left behind again! She let out an ear-splitting cry of pain.

"I know, I know," Mazarin said, patting her coarse neck. "But it has to be this way. You'll have to go to the mainland and stay there on your own for several months. We have to make sure the curse has worked its way through the Nine Kingdoms before we bring you over to where we are. But I will come back for you, you know that I will. I did it before, didn't I?"

The dragon's eyes were filled with grief at the thought of parting again. She whined and leaned her face against the wizard.

"How can you do this?" Burly demanded, jumping up from the ground. "If you bring her to the mainland, she'll get the curse! I won't let you do that!"

Mazarin blinked in surprise.

Blabberwort snapped out of her mushroom induced haze and grabbed her older brother's right arm. "He doesn't know what he's saying," she said.

"He's too stupid," Bluebell agreed, grabbing Burly's left arm.

"I know exactly what I'm saying," Burly said. "He can't let the curse get Baby!"

"I hadn't planned to," Mazarin said. "I'll make sure she's protected. And she'll have plenty to eat if I leave her near Bean Town."

"But who's going to look after her?" Burly asked. "She's not much more than a baby."

Zafira snorted in disgust. "How dare you question the Master?" she said

"Baby's fully grown now," Mazarin said. "But you're right, she shouldn't be left alone. The last time I left her she at least had other dragons to keep her company. But this time…"

"So let her stay here!" Burly insisted.

"I can't. The three who are staying here will be busy using their magic for other things. They won't be able to transport large supplies of beanstalk. But you could go and visit Baby, keep her company. I can provide you with talismans that will let you through the barrier."

"Master!" Zafira said, stepping forward. "They're supposed to be staying here to serve our followers."

"They will."

"But how do you know they won't run off?"

"Because once on the mainland, they will be subject to the curse." Mazarin stepped closer to Burly. "Do you understand? I will give you talismans to cross through the barrier around the island, but not to protect you from the curse. Baby will be protected, but you will not be. The longer you stay away, the more likely you are to fall under the curse. Even if your siblings carry you back here, the curse will continue. My three followers will not be able to spare any magic to undo it."

Blabberwort dug her fingers into her big brother's arm. She wasn't sure she liked the odds of this. "Baby will probably be fine alone," she urged. "Like Mazarin said, she's a big girl now. She doesn't need baby sitters."

"She'll be lonely." Burly said. "She'll need us to comfort her." He meant it. But at the same time, he also thought this looked like an opportunity. Once outside they might be able to do something for the troll nation that would stop the curse and help them regain their lost positions. A couple of hours was still a couple of hours. "Baby's family now," he said decisively. "Trolls watch out for family. If Mazarin won't take care of Baby, we will."

"Done!" Mazarin said.

Bluebell gulped. He sure hoped Burly knew what he was doing.


	24. Chapter 24 The Curse Begins

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

**The Curse Begins**

Rose was one of the first to notice something was wrong. Wendell usually woke up well before her. Yet when she opened her eyes, he still appeared to be sound asleep. She smiled and gave him a gentle kiss on the nose. He still didn't stir. Poor dear, she thought. She had kept him up rather late the night before. The full moon was approaching and she'd been feeling very frisky.

A soft knock on the door announced the arrival of their breakfast. They'd started taking it in their room when Rose began getting more involved in the workings of the kingdom. It gave them time alone before the day began in earnest and allowed them to argue freely about state affairs. Wendell was more cautious by nature and Rose more interested in action, so they often disagreed on the best approach to things.

After a second knock, Rose put on her white chenille robe and opened the door to the maid.

"Good morning, your Majesty," the young maid said. She couldn't manage a curtsy with the heavy tray in her arms.

"Shhh," Rose said with an impish smile, "The King is still asleep. I thought we might let him rest a bit longer."

"Yes, Ma'am," the maid whispered. She put the tray down on the little breakfast table in the corner and began to uncover trays. "I hope your Majesties don't mind cold cereal. Our main breakfast cook didn't show up for work this morning. I have no doubt he'll be in great trouble when the Head Chef hears about it. He begged and pleaded for this promotion and now two weeks in, he's not shown up for work."

"Cold cereal is fine," Rose said. "The King is going to be late getting to it anyway. And it already feels like a warm day."

"Yes, your Majesty." The girl gave a deep curtsy to make up for the one she hadn't given the Queen earlier. Then she quickly made for the door. A couple of maids had missed their starting hour that morning as well and she had extra work to do.

Rose quietly got herself dressed in preparation for leading calisthenics. She thought she would clean herself up later, after they had ended. When she was ready to eat, she pulled open the heavy curtains in front of the double windows to reveal the sun as it came up over the greening fields of the Fourth Kingdom. Wendell had to get up then, whether he liked it or not. Rose knew he'd be furious with her if she let him sleep any longer.

She bent over her husband's sleeping form and tickled his nose with her long red hair. "Wendell?" she said tenderly. "It's time to get up."

There was no reaction.

"Wendell?" Rose shook him gently. "My love, it's time to get up."

Still no reaction.

"Wendell?" A hint of panic slipped into her voice as she shook him harder. "Wendell!"

But still there was no reaction. Wendell was breathing shallowly, but there was no other sign of life.

Rose rang for the maid at once. She thought the first thing she had to do was call the Royal Physician….and Raphaela. If it was some kind of spell, Matilde's newly discovered daughter would know what to do. Matilde was off at Jack Sprat's coronation at the Snoozing castle. Without realizing it, Rose started pacing the floor.

There was a soft knock on the door and Herbert the perfect butler appeared. "Your Majesty," he said politely. "There seems to be a problem."

"Yes, I know. The King is ill. Please send for the Royal Physician at once."

"He's been called, your Majesty. It seems that some of the castle staff did not appear for work this morning. As is my habit, I looked in on them and found them all in a deep state of sleep."

The worried look on Rose's face deepened. "It must be a spell then. The King is under it too."

"The King?" Herbert stepped further into the royal bed chamber and looked down on the sleeping king. He was able to keep his face calm because of all the years he'd spent as an imperturbable butler. But there was a definite tightness at his jaw.

"Does the Royal Physician know what to do?"

"No, Ma'am, he does not."

"Then go to Prince Anthony's room. Queen Matilde's white cane is there. Bring it to me at once. Maybe…."

"Yes, it's known for its curative powers. Maybe it will help the King." Herbert quickly retreated from the room, closing the door behind him a little louder than he meant to.

"Raphaela has to know what to do," Rose said out loud. "She just has to."

- - - - - - - - - -

Tony was just waking up in the little room the dwarves had given him deep within Dragon Mountain. Instead of the usual candle, his cell was lit by a globe-shaped electric light mounted on the wall. So far so good. There had been a couple of glitches in the new electrical system, but for the most part his new invention seemed to be a success. There seemed to be little for Tony to do except take bows. Pleased with himself, he picked up his mirror pendant from his nightstand to notify his wife of his brilliance. He assumed Matilde had been up long before getting ready for Jack Sprat's coronation.

"Mirror, mirror, in my hand," he taunted, "Who's the greatest in the land?" He expected Matilde to come on momentarily and jibe him for his egotistic rhyme. But she didn't, so he continued. "Matilde, the electric light in my room is still going strong, without a sputter. If you'll excuse the pun, you have a brilliant husband. Get it? Light? Brilliant?" He waited again to hear her voice snap back at him with some sort of dry quip, but it didn't."

That was strange.

Could she be mad at him for some reason? He'd teased her the night before because Leaf Fall's husband had talked them all into wearing crowns at the coronation, but she'd seemed to take his kidding in stride. Could he have said something else to upset her without realizing it? "Matilde?" he said to the mirror again. "OK. I'm sorry for what I said last night." Whatever it was. "You know I didn't mean it." When the mirror still showed only his face, he became impatient. "Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm going to hang up and go find Eranthis. So there!"

Tony put the mirror back on his nightstand upside down. That would show her. If she deigned to look for him, she would see only the worn surface of his nightstand. Serve her right. If she called back, he would just ignore her like she'd ignored him.

Irritated, he washed himself in the basin and got dressed for the day. For a moment he considered leaving the pendant in his room, but somehow he couldn't do that. He put it back around his neck where he'd had it most of his stay in Dragon Mountain and grumbled vaguely as he went out his door.

Something was wrong. The dwarves were scrambling around through the various tunnels like ants who'd just had their hill disturbed. Every now and again, they would stop and whisper to each other urgently.

"What's going on?" Tony asked out loud. But no one stopped to talk to him. So he grabbed one of the younger dwarves by the shoulder and asked again. "I said, what's going on?"

The young male dwarf looked up at him with round brown eyes. "It's Eranthis. He's under some kind of sleeping spell. Several others are too. We've tried to raise Snow White and Queen Matilde through the mirrors, but there's been no answer. Nobody's had any poisoned apples. And it doesn't look like the spell that Sleeping Beauty was under because most of the people in Dragon Mountain haven't been affected, but it's something like it. Now…please. I've got to go. I need to check and see if my family is all right. Perhaps if we leave Dragon Mountain…" And he pulled away and ran off down a nearby tunnel, perfectly lit by Tony's new electric lights.

Yeah. Everything had gone without a hitch, Tony thought to himself. Wait a minute. Did that dwarf say they'd tried to reach Matilde? "Tony held the mirror pendant up to his face again and called his wife's name, louder this time. "Matilde? Matilde?" Still there was no answer. A sleeping spell! That's all they needed!

The dwarves were running past him in greater numbers now. Some of them were carrying satchels over their shoulders. It seemed as if they hoped they'd be free of the enchantment if they moved above ground. But Matilde was far away in the Sixth Kingdom. If she was affected all the way over there, there was probably no where to run. Or maybe whoever was doing this had just blocked Dragon Mountain's mirrors off from the outer world, the way Snow White had protected them from being seen by Christine when they'd first come to the Nine Kingdoms.

From the back of Tony's mind came a name….Gustav. He was the magic mirror that had told him and Virginia where to find the second traveling mirror the first time they'd come to Dragon Mountain. Gustav was slow and old, but he seemed to be able to see things no one else could. Maybe he would know who was behind all this and what they could do to fight it.

Since Tony had been there for two days, he knew the main tunnels pretty well. When he entered the cavern of mirrors and records he found the dwarf Librarian standing in front of Gustav.

"Although the spell is from all around," Gustav said in answer to some question from the Librarian. "The source of it cannot be found."

"From all around?" Tony asked. "Does that mean it's affecting all of the Nine Kingdoms?"

"I think that's what it means," the white haired Librarian answered, peering up at Tony over his gold rimmed glasses. "That would take a lot of power. Yes, a lot of power. Most likely from a very organized group, or from a few very powerful individuals."

"Can we stop them?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But we'd need to get Snow White together with Matilde and her uncle, Prince Brutus. They're probably the most powerful individuals in the Nine Kingdoms. Otherwise…."

"Attention!!" a male voice boomed behind them.

Tony and the Librarian turned around. All the mirrors in the room and every shiny surface had come to life like television sets in an electronic store all tuned to the same channel. Gustav alone remained in his usual murky state.

Tony blinked twice. The face looking back at him from every corner of the room was his. At least, sort of. The imposter Tony was dressed in dark purple robes and had a long beard. His hair was a similar color, but it was untouched by the dye that Tony always insisted he didn't use. His eyes, though, were his most outstanding feature. They glowed red with the promise of cruelty. A chill swept across Tony as he realized it was Mazarin. But…wasn't he supposed to be safely locked up somewhere?

"Good morning Nine Kingdoms!" Mazarin exclaimed. "I'll bet you're all surprised to see me. Or maybe some of you don't know who I am. I am Mazarin….the Great and Powerful Wizard!" He paused as if expecting applause.

The Librarian snuck a nervous glance at Tony, to compare him to the vision of Mazarin. The Librarian was old enough to have heard the name of the evil wizard, but like many people, he'd never seen him. It was strange that the man calling himself Mazarin and the man standing beside him looked so much the same. For a second he wondered if Tony and Mazarin could somehow be working together. But the expression of amazement on Tony's face told him that wasn't so. Even if the faces were similar, the malevolent eagerness in Mazarin's eyes wasn't echoed in Tony's.

"You all thought you had me locked away forever, didn't you?" Mazarin continued. "Fools! No one keeps Mazarin the Great locked up! And no one moves against me without paying for it. You had your chance to work with me. To let me guide you to better days. But instead you sent armies against me and trapped me within another dimension." Mazarin shook his head like a scolding parent. "Tsk, tsk. I'm afraid I'll just have to punish you.

"By now you've all noticed that some of your leading citizens have fallen into a deep unwakeable sleep…especially those within the Snoozing Castle. A good joke, don't you think? That Snoozing Castle should once again be filled with people under a sleeping curse? Except this one can't be foiled with a kiss. And it won't hold people in a state of suspension. After a couple of weeks they will die….mostly of dehydration and lack of food. It won't happen immediately because the spell slows everything down. But the outcome is inevitable.

"The rulers of the various kingdoms and the most powerful magical beings make up the bulk of our first victims. But we've thrown in a few commoners and some of the weaker members of your sad society as well for balance. But it will hit all of you over time, taking you at random when you fall asleep. The only way to ward it off is to avoid sleeping and I urge everyone to try that as long as they can." Mazarin laughed smugly. The less sleep everyone got, of course, the more panicky they would all become. "Sooner or later you'll doze off….even standing up. And the curse will get you. It's a very old curse, known to very few nowadays. The only way to undo it magically is with no less than three powerful beings working together in tandem, replaying the spell. Unfortunately for all of you, there are no longer any beings who are powerful enough to do that awake within the Nine Kingdoms. The few younger elves and fairies that remain would have to band together as a large group and work very hard for several months before they could do anything to stop it. And long before that, they will have succumbed to the curse. Everyone will have. So enjoy your few remaining wakeful days. By this time next year, the only things left alive in the Nine Kingdoms will be the plants. The beanstalks will probably take over everything. It seems a fitting end to me. Meanwhile, my coven and I will be moving on to a little place far far away that we've decided to call the Tenth Kingdom."

Out of view of the mirror Mazarin was speaking in, Relish's three children gritted their teeth. They'd never told Mazarin that they'd claimed the Tenth Kingdom or what they'd called it. He'd come up with the name himself. But that didn't change the fact that they still felt the land belonged to them and the troll nation.

"I will be leaving behind a few of my people to keep an eye on you," Mazarin continued. "They will make sure the curse is running as planned and call me back if there are any problems. I'm sure there won't be. Sleep well everyone!" And he was gone.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" the Librarian said. His usually ruddy red cheeks were now as white as his hair. "What are we to do?"

"The most powerful beings…." Tony muttered. His fingers instinctively clutched the pendant mirror around his neck. "Matilde."

"Yes. And no doubt Snow White as well….although she's not technically alive. Oh, what shall we do?"

"He's taken out the rulers of all the kingdoms and everyone at Snoozing Castle because he wants everything to in chaos."

"That would seem to be the point. To make us suffer before we inevitably fall under his curse."

"So, the first thing we have to do is calm down." It was easy to say, of course. But Tony wasn't feeling all that calm. After all, his wife was under a sleeping spell at the other end of the Nine Kingdoms. And he was very worried about Virginia and Anthony and Wolf. Were they under the spell too? "I've got to back to the Fourth Kingdom," he said, moving toward the mouth of the cavern. "Is the leader of the Dwarf Union under the spell?"

"I don't think so. But I don't know if he's left or not."

"Then check. Either you or he should try to regain control of the mountain. I'm sure that's what Eranthis would want."

"Me? But I'm no leader. Even the mirrors talk back to me."

"Then learn, fast. We need to take control of the situation as soon as possible. It's the only way we can find answers."

Most of the tunnels were eerily quiet by the time Tony started back to his room. He was relieved to find his footman and coachman waiting for him at his door. They told him that they had assumed Tony hadn't been hit by the curse since his bed had obviously been slept in and he wasn't in it. They were as eager to return to the Fourth Kingdom to look in on their families as Tony was.

"We leave at once," Tony said. And the other two men went to fetch their things.

As they rode down the mountainside Tony had too much time to think. He worried over his family first. How was he going to get Matilde back? What would he do if he found Virginia and Anthony under the spell too? What would Virginia do if Wolf had fallen under it? Wendell was probably asleep. Was Rose? Or did Mazarin consider wolf consorts unimportant? Virginia had gone through so much recently. And then there had been all that terrible winter weather….

It was then Tony remembered Clayface arriving in a snowstorm to supposedly ask him about a carving he'd done. Horror fell over Tony. He'd thought the carving was just an excuse to mooch at the time. But…hadn't it looked like him dressed up in a costume and beard like Mazarin's? And the title…wasn't it something about a Tenth Kingdom? Why oh why hadn't he paid attention? This was worse than making a fool of yourself with some magic dragon dung bean or breaking a few mirrors.

Out of the window of his carriage Tony saw people running through fields with bundles. He also saw sleeping animals scattered here and there along the road and in the pastures. If he had paid attention or shown Clayface's carving to Matilde, this whole thing might not have happened. And the Tenth Kingdom….What was that? In Clayface's carving Mazarin had seemed to be standing in front of a modern city with tall buildings like New York City. Was Mazarin planning to go there?

- - - - - - - - - -

Virginia and Wolf were still in their bed snuggling when Mazarin made his announcement. It was shown in their room by the mirror over Virginia's bureau and the full length mirror by the closet. They sat up at the first "Attention!" and watched in shock till it was over. Then they headed at once for Anthony's room.

Herbert the perfect butler was already there. He had seen Mazarin's speech in the small mirror over Anthony's bureau. His eyes were wide and his jaw hung open. He looked at Virginia and Wolf when they came in, but he couldn't find any words to say to them.

The nursemaid was present also, but she was sound asleep, lying back carelessly in the rocking chair. The only hint that she was alive was in the low movement of her chest. Obviously she had been hit by the curse.

Wolf and Virginia continued their mad dash for the crib. Anthony appeared to be sleeping too. The bell toy that Pura had given him was clutched in his tiny hand.

"Anthony?" Virginia called as she scooped him up.

"Anthony!" Wolf echoed.

The baby opened his deep blue eyes and gave his mother a startled look. He couldn't decide if he should cry out, but the suddenness of all this definitely called for something. So he dropped his bell toy on the floor. Neither Wolf nor Virginia heard it fall. They were too busy sobbing with relief.

"Pick it up!" a female voice from the corner ordered.

Wolf, Virginia, and Herbert all turned around to see Raphaela filling out into her visual form, her face a study in seriousness.

"I said, pick it up," Raphaela repeated.

"Pick what up?" Wolf asked.

"The bell toy. Carrying or wearing a bell will keep you from getting the curse."

Wolf bent down and picked it up at once.

"How do you know that?" Virginia asked.

"It's an old curse. The ones used on Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were based on it. The one put on Snow White wasn't supposed to kill her because her stepmother wanted to hurt those who loved Snow White for a very long time. She knew they would be endlessly tortured by her not-quite-alive/not-quite-dead state. What Isabella didn't know was that my grandmother softened the spell by giving it a kiss-of-true-love escape clause. Another fairy of the same age did the same for Sleeping Beauty."

"Can you do that for the people already under this spell?"

"I'm not as old as my grandmother was then. I can't do it for a lot of people all at once without help. I could do it one at a time, but it would take a lot of time after. And even then some of their true loves may not be available to kiss them."

"And time is something we may not have a lot of."

"Matilde…." Virginia said. "Your mother….she was at the Snoozing Castle."

"Yes. So she's probably under the spell too."

"Huff-puff, what are we going to do?" Wolf asked.

"Queen Rose wants to see you in her bed chamber," Herbert said, finding his voice at last. He hadn't known about Raphaela, of course. But he was putting things together fast, as a good butler must always do. "The Queen sent me to see if you could heal King Wendell."

"No," Raphaela said, with a shake of her platinum head. "Not without help."

"Could we use bells?" Wolf asked.

"Not after the spell has hit. It can only ward it off."

"We've got to tell Rose," Virginia said. And the group of them hurried off, leaving the sleeping nursemaid where she was.

- - - - - - - - - -

Zafira was unbelievably chipper as she readied herself for their evacuation. She was certain that everything was about to change in her favor. She had her red hair piled high on her head and she was wearing her favorite salmon pink gown. Her wings twitched excitedly at her back. Just a little bit longer. "I will show the three caretakers the rooms the trolls have prepared for them," she told Mazarin cheerfully. "Then I have to run a quick errand before we go. You're taking Baby to old Bean Town." Her smile got even bigger. "Right?"

"Yes," Mazarin said with a growl. He had thoroughly enjoyed his broadcast to the Nine Kingdoms, but Zafira's obvious glee at leaving Baby behind was ruining it. He had the urge to send his consort hurtling magically to a wall. But he resisted the impulse. He needed to conserve his magic for what was ahead. And he needed Zafira's help to take the Tenth Kingdom. "You attend to your business. And I will take care of the rest."

"Of course, Master. I'll meet you here within the hour."

Mazarin grunted as two of his followers appeared in the great hall via the magic of traveling dust. "In an hour!" he barked. And he went off to Baby.

The green dragon was sitting in a brokenhearted heap just outside her lair. The trolls were with her, Burly sitting on the ground at her side, stroking her scaly neck.

"Come," Mazarin said gently to his beloved pet. "It's time."

Baby whimpered, but got obediently to her feet.

Burly got up as well. "You be good, Baby," he said. "We'll come see you soon."

Mazarin pulled out some traveling dust and sprinkled it over the dragon and himself. The dust held in the air for a moment. And then the wizard and his pet disappeared.

"What now?" Blabberwort asked.

"Now we plan," Burly said.

- - - - - - - - - -

The first thing Rose did when Virginia and Wolf appeared was to take Anthony into her arms and kiss him. Somehow seeing him safe gave her hope. As she listened to Raphaela and the others speak, she continued holding him and touching her cheek to his soft baby head.

Lord Rupert had joined Rose by then, along with the Chancellor. To take his mind off things, Rupert had readjusted Wendell's covers to make them look "more stylish, yet natural." And the Chancellor had been talking to Rose about her responsibilities.

Rose was disappointed that Raphaela couldn't cure the sleeping curse, but she was hopeful that it could be stopped with bells.

"We can't have everyone start carrying bells," Virginia said. "Mazarin said he'll have some of his followers watching us. They'll just have him return from wherever he's going and do something worse."

"That's true," Wolf said.

"Then we need to somehow cancel out those watchers," Raphaela said.

"We don't even know where they are," Virginia said.

"No," the serious faced Chancellor said. "The first thing we've got to do is gain control of the kingdom." His first duty was to the Fourth Kingdom. "A full scale panic is likely."

"Have Kobsa gather the army," Rose said. "We'll send out a retinue to do what they can right away."

"Human or wolf?"

"A combination of both. We need everyone now."

"We need to gain control of ALL the kingdoms," Virginia said. "They're probably all panicking."

"The Prime Minister of the First Kingdom can probably maintain control," the Chancellor said, beginning to tick the kingdoms off on his fingers one by one. "The Second Kingdom's Chancellor has always been something of a yes man. I don't think he'll be able to do much on his own."

Wolf whimpered at that.

"The Third Kingdom will probably be in great disarray, unless one of the young Ice Maidens finds a way to handle things. The Fifth Kingdom has Gavrilo as Chancellor, he's rather strange, but he can probably handle things. The Sixth Kingdom has no one to lead them because they're all asleep in Snoozing Castle. The Seventh Kingdom has Queen Leaf Fall's daughters, but they've probably gone into hiding the way their father usually does. They don't have their mother's backbone. The Eighth Kingdom has no one either, but I've heard the retinue of Ice Maidens that attended Jack Sprat's coronation was going to be quite large, so there probably aren't that many Ice Fairies left there at the moment. They're a more self-sufficient lot anyway. The Ninth Kingdom tends to get emotional when things happen. But then they calm down and become sensible. The dwarf union leader or some other personage will probably take control there."

"All right," Virginia said. "We can't fix everybody's problems, but we might be able to do a few things. I'm Leaf Fall's Second, I really should try and get one of her daughters to take control there. And Wolf, you're the heir to the throne in the Second Kingdom, so…."

"No!" Wolf said loudly.

"But…."

"I am not leaving you and Anthony to do something that's unnatural for a wolf."

"Unnatural?" Rose asked giving him a dirty look. "She was already feeling comfortable in the role of Queen.

"Well," Wolf said, "It's not natural for me. I think you take after the Red side of the family more than I do."

"You've been acting as alpha wolf," Rose pointed out.

"No, not really. I've only been building a consensus. That's what my self-help books would say. It's totally different. I don't know the first thing about ruling."

"Then get that other woman. Our cousin, Maria Thompson, to do it. She falls after us in the line of succession and she already knows the Second Kingdom."

"Yes," Wolf said eagerly. "I could do that. Yes, I could."

"This is all good," Raphaela said. "But we must also find a way to stop the spread of the curse in a way that won't attract Mazarin's attention."

At that moment Timka came running into the room, breathless. "My mother…" he began, but he couldn't go any farther.

Everyone understood. Pura had fallen under the curse.

- - - - - - - - - -

The beanstalk field on the border between new Bean Town and the Third Kingdom was completely deserted when Mazarin and Baby appeared there.

The humans of Bean Town had been through so much recently, most of them were resigned to this new disaster. Some wanted to ride out to King Wendell's castle for news. Others thought there was nothing to do but hunker down and wait for the end.

The trolls of the Third Kingdom were busy arguing among themselves and fighting with the few young Ice Maidens who were left. The trolls wanted to look for Mazarin, even if it meant tracking him down to this new Tenth Kingdom of his. The inexperienced Ice Fairies didn't have any magic to combat the spell, but they felt sure if they brought together all the remaining magic beings that they could do something to at least stop the forward movement of the spell.

The giants who lived above the beanstalks were still stuck up in the clouds because of the magic barriers put there earlier by the Ice Maidens. They had seen Mazarin's speech reflected in the water droplets of the clouds and decided the best course of action was to get even more drunk than usual. What else was there to do?

Baby looked around at her new home. It was mostly filed with young beanstalks. They were colonizing their way from the troll kingdom to new Bean Town. Usually they were pulled up before they got too tall. But The Giant War and the uprisings instigated by Victor, along with the heavy snows had kept the official weeders of Bean Town from their work. The beanstalks were already out of hand. They hadn't reached the land of the giants yet, but they were well on their way. Once they pushed through the clouds, the giants could use these new stalks to climb down to the earth once again because they weren't protected by any spells. But there wasn't much likelihood of that happening since most of the giants were unaware of anything now except the mouth of their whiskey jugs.

"You can easily eat the younger plants," Mazarin said, "or fly up into the sky to nibble on taller stalks. Over that way is a woodland stream with a nice sized swimming hole." He pointed toward the Second Kingdom and the older beanstalks. "There are only two things you must remember…" Mazarin pulled a leather strap out of his robes. It had a bell on it. "First, you must never take this off." He fastened it around her neck. "And second…remember that I love you. I WILL return for you."

Baby lowered her head into Mazarin's hands and whimpered softly.

"I know…You love me too. Zafira resents you, but that doesn't matter. If I have to choose between you, I will choose you." Mazarin stroked the green dragon gently between the eyes and she closed them trustingly. "Remember when you were little and you were surrounded by that pack of predators? Those stupid animals didn't understand how great my magic was, or they would never have tried to hurt you. But even if I had had no power and had only my cane to fight them back, I would still not have abandoned you. I brought you here and I will bring you to the next place I go as well. In the meantime, you have plenty to eat here and the trolls will look in on you from time to time. Just don't get too attached to them. After the Nine Kingdoms have completely succumbed to the curse, their usefulness to me will have ended."

Baby's eyes opened and she pulled back from Mazarin in alarm.

"Don't worry. It will be quick and painless. I owe them that much for taking care of you. But they don't have your nobility. They are an ugly, animalistic race. It's time they should come to an end. Besides, their father and grandfather fought me during The Magic War. Theirs is a warlike race without any use beyond that. They'll just make trouble if I keep them around."

Baby opened her mouth to protest.

"Now…no arguments. Daddy knows what's best. You just be a good girl. When I move you on to the Tenth Kingdom, I'll make sure you have plenty of new playmates. You'll see. It will all work out." He patted her scaly neck. "I've got to go now. My followers will be waiting for me on the Island. Be a good girl." And with a wave of his hand and a dusting of magic powder, Mazarin was gone.

Baby looked around her at the sea of young beanstalks and cried out her agony in a series of whines and roars. Her bellows echoed off the enormous plants around her and traveled almost as far as Bean Town and Relish's castle.

A large toad living in the mud at the edge of the woodland steam nearby listened intently to the sound of Baby's calls. They were distorted by the tall beanstalks, but there was something about them that tugged at him. "What was that?" he asked himself in his deep froggy voice.

Not all toads in the Nine Kingdoms had the power of speech, but the variety that Sammy belonged to did. They had a high intelligence, but their diminutive stature made them seem unimportant to most people. Some toads tried to make themselves more significant by working as caretakers and questioners. Sammy had an uncle on his mother's side who had worked as the caretaker of a wishing well once, questioning would-be wishers to see if they were worthy of having their wishes granted. But Sammy's mother had always been ashamed of him.

"There's no purpose in that," Sammy's mother had said. "It's all right for princes who've been changed into toads to do that. Princes are always doing self-indulgent things anyway. Changing them into other creatures doesn't always change that. But real toads are meant for bigger and better things. Till those bigger and better things come along…it's best to just sit by your lily pad and wait."

There was another tortured roar from the beanstalk field beyond the stream.

"Well," Sammy croaked, "that sure sounds big."

- - - - - - - - - -

The room where the crown jewels of the First Kingdom were kept was empty of its usual guards when Zafira appeared. They had seen Mazarin's announcement reflected in every display case and mirror in the room and fled soon after. The news that their precious Cinderella had already fallen under the curse had hit everyone quite hard. She was their hope, their heart. Even when she was in seclusion recovering from the magical surgery necessary to maintain her looks, they knew she was there, somewhere, watching over them, keeping the flame of their happily-ever-after burning bright. Without her there was only hopelessness and panic, just as Mazarin had hoped there would be.

Zafira looked over the roomful of beautiful artifacts and waved her hand at the case that held Cinderella's famous glass slippers. She knew there was a magic barrier protecting everything in the room, but it wasn't a strong one. One recitation of the spell they had used to free Mazarin from his dimensional prison would be enough to cancel it out.

"Inso eli todop ry," she chanted off-handedly,

"Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

There was a slight flash as the protective spell was broken. Zafira waved her hand again and the cover on the case that held the slippers was thrown back. "Now he will love me," she said out loud as she picked up the sparkling shoes from their black velvet pillow. "Just as Cinderella's charming prince loved her."

As if in answer, the soft blue light that always emanated from the shoes stopped, along with the occasional twinkling of silver. They became dull and heavy in Zafira's hands.

"Oh, don't give me that," Zafira said to the shoes. "Cinderella is gone, or will be soon. You need a new mistress."

The shoes answered her by shrinking down in size till they were only four inches each in length.

"Changing size may have worked against the prince's string of human suitors, but it won't work on me."

Zafira placed the tiny shoes on the floor and raised both of her hands. She muttered a size changing spell under her breath and sent a bolt of magic at the shoes. Before she knew what was happening, the spell reflected off the shoes and back at her. She became engulfed by a pink glow and swelled up to several times her size. She had to squat to accommodate the low ceiling.

Zafira winced as her wings rubbed against the spear held by an empty suit of armor. "That's a handy little trick," she said dryly. She waved her hands again and returned to her normal size. "I'll bet Cinderella is sorry she didn't wear you to Jack Sprat's coronation. Well…" She bent down and picked up the tiny shoes again. "If you won't cooperate with me, I'll just have to get rid of you. Not in the way I'd like to, you might reflect the spell back at me. But…"

Zafira whipped a bit of traveling dust out of her gown and sprinkled it over them. A moment later they were back on Hunter's Island at the seaside.

"If I leave you in the First Kingdom you might cause some mischief." Zafira tossed the four inch slippers into the sea. "Down there you'll only be of service to the fish."

It was getting late. Zafira knew Mazarin would be back at the hunting lodge waiting impatiently for her. He would probably scream at her for being late in front of all of their followers. It wasn't supposed to be like that. She had planned to have him fall madly in love with her again as soon she walked into the room in those magic slippers.

Well…at least Baby was gone. And they were moving on to a new place. Maybe things would be different there.

Zafira turned away from the doubts that tugged at her and made her way back to the old hunting lodge.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kai's griffin, of course, had been the first victim of the curse several months before. The sea unicorn that Clayface had left the griffin with, had managed to gather a sizable number of his own kind and they had all agreed. They thought the sleeping spell would wear off in a few days or a week at most and that they only had to protect the griffin till he awoke. Since they had never mixed in well with anyone but the griffin and Kai, they didn't think to look for additional help. By the time they realized how dangerous the spell was, it was too late for them to search out one of the fairies in the Eighth Kingdom.

The griffin and the unicorns had been drawn together long ago to serve Kai, the Selkie. The intention was to have one group of servants who could take to the air and another who could live in the sea or on the ground. They were tied together magically and could speak with one voice, through the griffin. Or rather…the griffins, for all griffins had the power to understand unicorns.

There were no more griffins now in the Nine Kingdoms, but the unicorns assumed they still existed on the other side of the barrier beyond the Fifth Kingdom. Xian, Kai's sister, had arranged for the barrier to be closed quickly, knowing that some of her own followers would be locked away from her, because she felt the griffins were too valuable to be allowed to follow her brother through the barrier. Only the pair closest to Kai had been allowed through. The female had gotten sick and died soon after the barrier had gone up. But the male had survived all this time. He'd kept in close contact with the unicorns, making sure they understood where they came from and why.

After the griffin died, the unicorns pulled him into the sea and let the currents take him away to the loving arms of the great sea god. They'd spent the cold snowy winter by the Northern Sea wondering what to do now that they were alone without the griffin and without the mirror that could bring them to Kai. Some of them wanted to go to the Fourth Kingdom, to the castle of King Wendell, for they had heard from the griffin (who had heard it from the magic birds) that Wendell had the third traveling mirror.

"We can't go till the end of the winter," the sensible sea unicorns whinnied. But after the snows departed, they were still in disagreement. "They won't understand us," some of the unicorns nickered. "Without the griffin to translate for us, how can we possibly explain that we want to use their mirror to visit our master in another dimension?"

"Perhaps one of the fairies will try and use their magic to translate," some others said.

"They won't even try unless they realize we're smart enough to have complicated thoughts. Those with speech generally think those without have limited intelligence."

The argument was settled that morning when Mazarin made his announcement. It was low tide at that point and his face appeared in the pools of sea water left along the beach. There was no trace of his announcement past the shoreline, however. It was as if his magic ended at the sea. The unicorns realized that the sleeping curse that had killed their griffin friend was about to kill a great many more. Somehow they needed to make someone understand that the sea might be a safe place to hide. And they needed to get to Kai because they were sure he would know how to reverse the curse.

"I will lead a small group to Wendell's castle," said the unicorn who had been with the griffin when he was cursed. "Somehow we must make ourselves understood to whoever is there. The rest of you should stay in the surf where it is safe."

The sea unicorns nodded their silver horns in agreement. It was the only thing to do.

- - - - - - - - - -

Gavrilo was already in his office in the back of the castle giving orders to a group of underlings when Mazarin's announcement hit. He always got up early because King Cole always slept late. He liked to have the Fifth Kingdom up and running by the time King Cole came to look in on him. Seeing Gavrilo so hard at work usually made Cole feel that he didn't need to work. That was fine with Gavrilo. He liked having the movers and shakers of the kingdom look to him instead. Cole may not have realized it yet, but Gavrilo was the puppet master behind his throne.

There were no mirrors in Gavrilo's office for Mazarin to appear in. The Fifth Kingdom Chancellor had no interest in shiny baubles or decorations. The only reflective surface in the room was the glass over King Cole's huge portrait on the wall. Cole had given it to Gavrilo as a gift a few years back for his faithful service and had included the glass covering because Cole had an abhorrence of dust.

While Mazarin talked, Gavrilo remained expressionless in case one of his underlings should glance at him. It was ironic that Mazarin should return like this. Gavrilo's father had become Chancellor because of certain services he'd done for Cole's father during The Magic War. So in a way, Mazarin had made it possible for his father to become Chancellor. And now Mazarin had come back to give Gavrilo the chance of becoming king.

As soon as Mazarin's image faded away, several screams exploded from upstairs in the direction of the king's bedchamber. They were followed by loud wails of mourning. Everyone in Gavrilo's office recognized the voice because they often heard it arguing with King Cole. It was the ghost of Rapunzel. She'd just realized that her son had been cursed and wasn't sleeping as she thought.

"What do we do?" one of the underlings asked Gavrilo.

"There is nothing we can do for the King right now," Gavrilo said gravely. "But every curse has an antidote. And I know where we can find it." He shuffled around to face the others, leaning heavily on his craggy black staff. "Don't you think it's strange that this is happening just now, not long after those two wolves were made heirs to the thrones of two kingdoms? It seems very convenient to me that all the rulers of the Nine Kingdoms are suddenly under a creeping sleeping curse."

One underling opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Everybody was looking at the Chancellor with such rapt attention, he was afraid he would get in trouble if he questioned anything.

"I have no doubt that Mazarin is working with them. If we want to stop this, we will have to go to Wendell's castle and confront his she-wolf. Force her to tell us how to end this curse. Sergeant Tarquin, gather the army together. We will send most of them into the Fifth Kingdom to maintain control. But we will also send a couple of battalions to the Fourth Kingdom. Victor is already there on some special business for me. I trust him like no other. If possible, I will have him bring Duke Barron Dragon-Slayer, the true heir to Wendell's throne, to join us in this quest. If they come, you are to let them lead our forces to Wendell's castle and force the she-wolf into ending the curse."

"Right!" young sergeant Tarquin said with a click of his polished heels. "Where shall I have them meet Victor and the Duke?"

"At the Disenchanted Forest."

"There?" one of the underlings gulped. "But there are many dangerous creatures there."

"They are all stupid animals who won't be smart enough to stay up through the night to ward off the curse. By morning when our troops arrive, most of them will be permanently asleep. Now go! The survival of our kingdom depends upon it."

Rapunzel had been quiet over the last few minutes. She had been expecting a flood of attention in response to her cries, but no one had come. So she started moaning again.

"Should we go and comfort her?" one of the underlings asked.

Gavrilo wished he could have both Rapunzel and her son thrown out of the castle. From what he understood of Rapunzel's haunting, if Cole left the castle permanently, she would be forced to leave as well because her haunting centered on him. Unfortunately, the people of the Fifth Kingdom still revered Rapunzel so he couldn't do that. Not yet anyway. "Yes. Go to her. Tell her we are doing everything we can. I shall be in my rooms."

"Yes, Chancellor," Sergeant Tarquin said, clicking his heels again and adding a bow. The other underlings followed his example. With King Cole under the curse, Gavrilo was now acting king.

Gavrilo shuffled to his rooms, past hysterical courtesans and rushing courtiers. He was expecting to have a visitor shortly. Usually he came only under the cover of darkness, but this curse would be seen as an emergency. Gavrilo wasn't worried about his visitor being seen because in the middle of the panic it was unlikely that anyone would be hanging around at the back of the castle, looking up at its top floors.

As soon as he got to his rooms, he locked the door. His guest hadn't arrived yet. There was still time to sit down and write a letter to Victor. Gavrilo was pretty sure that the palace guard would do as he asked. After all, it would give him the Chancellorship. Gavrilo was just finishing the letter when he heard the scrambling of feet at his window and the familiar "Ack ack."

"Yes," Gavrilo said without turning around. "I knew you'd come." He sealed the letter for Victor, putting his seal in wax on the front of it with Victor's name in large letters above. Then Gavrilo labored to his feet. The human boots always made things so difficult. But the seeming disability that everyone thought ran in his family had worked in their favor, making them all seem harmless.

"Were there many of our people hit by the curse?" Gavrilo asked as he turned around.

The winged monkey standing before him uttered a long string of sounds that would have seemed like gibberish to any creature not of Gavrilo's species. The hsigo and satyrs had long ago been bound together to serve the same mistress, much as the sea unicorns and griffins had been bound together to serve Kai. The satyrs were the spokesmen for both. The satyrs were chosen as servants because they moved on the earth. The hsigo were chosen because they moved through the sky. Xian had had no interests in having servants tied to water because she didn't have respect for it the way her siblings had.

"Good," Gavrilo said. "Mazarin was obviously more interested in striking the more magical members of the Nine Kingdoms first, so none of them could interfere. Move our fallen peoples out of harms way, to the caverns on the east side of the Disenchanted Forest. I am sending troops to the other side in preparation for taking Wendell's castle. I don't know if this curse can be stopped. But if by some miracle it is, I want to use this opportunity to take control of the Fifth Kingdom and perhaps the Fourth as well. The more land we control, the more freedom we'll have. And when we break through to our mistress, I have no doubt she will be pleased by our accomplishments."

The winged monkey jabbered again.

"I too wish we had more magic. We'll just continue to concentrate everything we can on breaking down the barrier. This opportunity has come to us. Maybe something else will happen to help us as well." Gavrilo shuffled to the window where the winged monkey had flown in. He could see the deserts that lay beyond the Fifth Kingdom and the magic barrier. "Our quest is to get back home to our mistress. It has held us together and allowed us to keep our sanity through all these centuries."

"Ack ack," the hsigo agreed solemnly.

"You will give this letter to my servant Victor. I had you follow him a few times in the beginning to ascertain his loyalty, so you know what he looks like. He's traveling with a band of our people not far inside the Fourth Kingdom. I want him to join us and bring Duke Dragon-Slayer to Wendell's castle. If he succeeds in taking the castle and making Dragon-Slayer our puppet, he is to be Chancellor when he returns. If he or anyone gets in the way of our plans, you have my permission to kill them. Otherwise stay back and just watch as you have been. Victor might go against us. But I am betting that his hunger to be Chancellor will outweigh all doubts."

"Ack ack," the hsigo said with a bow. Gavrilo was considered the leader of their peoples, just as his father had been.

"Now go! I have to take off these human boots for a while before I rally the troops of the Fifth Kingdom."

The winged monkey gave Gavrilo another bow and took the letter. Then he leapt into the sky.

Gavrilo trundled to his desk and sat down to remove his boots. Their laces were drawn up tight and high around his round calves. He pulled off one and then the other and jumped to his hoofed feet. Since he was in a corner of the castle with only store rooms underneath, he knew no one would hear him. He leapt from the floor to his bed and back down again, exercising his leg muscles. The he galloped from one end of the room to the other, his hooves clicking against the flagstones. This was the way satyrs were meant to move, he thought, skipping and jumping, with the grace and surefootedness of a goat. He hated the silly human boots that were meant for ridiculously sensitive human feet. Fools, that's what they all were, weak fools.

Gavrilo stopped his exercise and pulled the suede boots back on over his cloven hooves. As much as he disliked them, he would do whatever it took to get his people a chance to return home. Once the boots were in place, he glanced into the mirror over the mantle to pat his thick gray and brown hair over his shaven horns. They usually didn't show except when he exercised. Outside he always wore a hat so the wind couldn't accidentally uncover them. Convinced that his human disguise was once more in place, he picked up his craggy black staff and clumped off to speak to his new army.

- - - - - - - - - -

From Mazarin's point of view the three followers that he left behind were relatively unimportant.

Hercules was the leader of the trio. He was an elf who was getting on in years and had a fair amount of power. The only trouble was he was very lazy and preferred to rest upon his divan most of the day. He thought they'd all been working too hard during the last few months and he was looking forward to overseeing the curse as a sort of vacation. He had the trolls move the all-purpose mirror from the front hall to his room where he could keep an eye on things without getting up. Then he settled in for a good long rest.

Elissa the wood nymph was next. She was even more impressed with her beauty than Snow White's stepmother was. She too thought they'd been working too hard. She was looking forward to being alone with her mirror. She never bothered asking it who the fairest of them all was. She knew the answer.

Then there was the male witch named Nestor. He was looking forward to testing some new spells. He was an experimenter and the last few months hadn't left him much time for that. So, he immediately took to his room and commanded the trolls not to bother him unless there was trouble. His meals were to be left on a tray outside his door.

The trolls greeted all three of their new masters with many bows when they were introduced. And they bowed to Mazarin and the rest of their followers as they stepped through the traveling mirror to go to the new Tenth Kingdom. Then they prepared the dinner meal early.

When Burly brought Hercules the elf his food he said (as offhandedly as possible), "We're going over to the mainland for a couple of hours."

"Already?" Hercules asked, his head bobbing up from his dinner of roast pork. "Mazarin has only just left."

"Yes, but he asked us to look in on Baby late this afternoon to make sure she's all right and settling in." This was a lie, of course, but Burly was betting that Hercules would be too lazy to check it.

"Oh, very well. If the Master said to." Hercules waved a weary hand dismissing him.

Blabberwort and Bluebell were waiting for their brother downstairs.

"Well?" Blabberwort asked.

"Let's get to the boat," Burly asked. "I want to stop off at our castle on the way to see Baby to see how things are going. Do we all have our talismans to get through the barrier?"

"Yes!" his brother and sister said, holding up the little bag of herbs that Mazarin had given them.

"Then we're off."

- - - - - - - - - -

Baby cried out her distress for some time in the beanstalk field. Then she decided she was hungry. She nibbled on a few young stalks and wondered what she should do next. Mazarin had said there was a stream. She thought maybe she would get a drink and then take a fly around her new home. Sniffing the air for the scent of water, she started off in the direction that Mazarin had pointed out to her. She heard the stream before she saw it. The sound of it comforted her. She lumbered to its muddy edge and took a good pull at the cold water.

"Hello," a deep voice called a little further up the stream.

Baby looked up to see a large toad hopping toward her. Toward her? Most smaller animals ran away when they saw her coming. She bleated at the toad in surprise.

"Don't believe I've ever seen one of your kind," Sammy continued. "You're a dragon, aren't you?"

Baby took a step toward him and craned her neck down to his level. She made a series of sniffs and snarfs, trying to catch his scent and wondering out loud why this tiny creature wasn't afraid of her.

"Why should I be afraid of you?" the toad asked. "We're both green aren't we? And from the way you stepped into that mud, we both like a good mud bath too."

"Hurumph hum," Baby said.

"Of course I can understand you," the toad said. "You're speaking very clearly.

Baby looked at him more closely and snorted at him in dragon language.

"I can't help it if no animals except other dragons have ever understood you. You're making perfect sense to me. You're not from around here, are you?"

Baby shook her scaly head and suddenly found herself telling the toad her entire life's story. It had been a long time since she'd had anyone to talk to. Dragons in her world usually only gathered together during mating season. Then they tended to live solitary lives. That was something Baby didn't particularly care for.

Sammy the toad was happy to have company as well. He sat down in the mud at the feet of the dragon and listened intently as she told her story.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was very late in the afternoon when the three troll children arrived on the mainland. When they got to their castle they found several trolls asleep from the curse, as well as one Ice Maiden. But there was no one else. The castle had been abandoned.

"Where did they all go?" Blabberwort asked.

"The surrounding hills maybe," Burly suggested.

"They've gone off to hide? Trolls don't hide."

"No," Bluebell said. "Trolls don't hide. But they might have gone off in search of a way to end the curse."

"Yes," Blabberwort agreed, "That must be it.

But they knew better.

Burly ran his hands along the sharp edge of his ax, letting himself bleed as he mourned the fall and shame of his race. Blabberwort did the same with her short sword.

"We can't allow this to happen," Burly said. "Mazarin has hurt our people!"

"But will Tony Lewis really help us?" Bluebell asked.

"His people are in just as much danger as ours," Burly said. "And his daughter is a witch, remember. We can offer to help him subdue Hercules, Elissa, and Nestor, in return for their help in ending the spell."

"But Mazarin said the curse couldn't be stopped,"

"We have to try," Blabberwort said. "They're our people."

Their plan included Baby. They wanted her to fly them to Wendell's castle, and later back to their boat. That way they wouldn't be gone as long and Hercules and the others wouldn't get suspicious.

At first, Baby didn't want to help. Mazarin was her Daddy, after all. And she didn't want to interfere with his curse. But using Sammy as a translator, she finally indicated that she would take them where they wanted to go. She didn't tell them why (though she mentioned it in passing to Sammy). She thought if Mazarin's curse was never completed, then maybe he wouldn't kill her friends the trolls.

Sammy thought it was more likely that Mazarin would kill Baby as well if he found out. But he translated her agreement to the trolls all the same. After all, his kind were also in danger of being hurt by the curse.

"Funny how the toad can understand her," Blabberwort whispered to her brothers.

"Yeah, weird," Bluebell agreed. "Maybe it's because they're both green."

- - - - - - - - - - -

By the time Tony arrived at Wendell's castle, it was almost dark. He jumped out of the carriage as soon as it got near the fountain at the entrance to the grounds and ran past the two nervous looking guards standing at the door. One was human, the other a wolf. They nodded to Tony as he raced past, but Tony didn't notice. He just wanted to get to Wendell's private office. He knew if any of his family were awake, they would be there trying to do what they felt Matilde, Wendell, and Leaf Fall would want them to do.

As he turned the corner, he heard raised voices through the open door at the end of the hall. It was Wolf and Timka.

"Most of the wolves are HERE!" Timka insisted. "They need you to take charge. Not go off to the Second Kingdom!"

"They have Rose," Wolf said. He was trying hard not to shout like his nephew, but was finding it hard. "My first duty is to Cousin Red. Cripes! You know I hate being a prince. But when I agreed to be one, I basically promised to take care of Red's kingdom if anything happened to her. I was hoping the burden would skip me. But that isn't the way it worked out. I don't want to take control. If I can get our cousin Maria to take over instead I'll come back in a couple of days and…."

"What if this Maria says no?" Timka demanded.

Tony rounded into the room just then.

"Daddy!" Virginia cried, running tearfully into his arms. "You're all right!"

Tony hugged his little girl close. He would never have admitted it, but a tear snuck out of his left eye and glistened on his cheek. "Where's Anthony?"

Virginia pointed to Wendell's big mahogany desk. Anthony was sleeping peacefully in a bundle of blankets in one of the open bottom drawers. Once again he was clutching the toy Pura had given him, only this time it was tied securely to his waist by a silken cord.

"He's all right," Raphaela said. She was in her visible form floating in front of the book cases. "Most people have forgotten, but bells can protect against a lot of negative spells. The one Mazarin is using is old and simplistic in a lot of ways. It had to be to cover an area as large as the Nine Kingdoms."

"Then we have to get everyone to carry bells," Tony said.

"If we do that, Mazarin's watchers will notice and just call him back," Virginia pointed out.

"Gypsy babies always have bell toys," Timka said. "It's just a matter of time before they realize the connection. Then those watchers will call Mazarin back anyway."

"Then we've got to do something to take them out immediately," Tony said.

"We don't even know where they are," Virginia said.

"I don't have second sight," Raphaela said.

There was a knock on the door behind them. "Excuse me," Herbert said, "there are some…guests here to see Lord Lewis."

"Guests?" Tony asked. "Who would be visiting me at a time like this?"

"Three trolls and a dragon," Herbert replied.

"What?"

"They say they are King Relish's children, the three who were imprisoned on Hunter's Island. They are in the company of a green dragon, who seems to have served as their ride."

"I thought dragons were extinct," Virginia said.

"Evidently not, Princess."

"Well, what do they want?" Tony asked.

"They say they have information about this curse of Mazarin's and they want to strike up a deal."

"A deal! They want a deal? After they chased us around the Nine Kingdoms, served us up to my crazy ex-wife, tried to send my daughter to some mid-begotten time in the past, and declared war on all of the Nine Kingdoms? Give me one good reason why I should trust them!"

"Because we have no other choice," Raphaela said. "They could be working for Mazarin, but they may also be trying to save their people. The trolls have been cursed as well, remember."

"I know, but I still don't trust them."

"You don't have to. We simply have to listen to what they say."

"Yes, we should," Wolf agreed.

"Well, I don't think Raphaela should do it in the form she's in," Tony said. "She's our ace in the hole. Mazarin doesn't know she exists yet. If the trolls are working for him, they might report back."

"That's a good idea," Raphaela said. "If someone will hand me to one of them, I can feel out their intentions."

"Done," Tony said. He reached out his hand to her the way he'd often seen Matilde do.

Raphaela paused for a second. Then she dissolved into the white cane and slipped into Tony's hand.

"Send them in," Tony said.

The trolls came in looking just as distrustful of Tony and his family as they were of them. Each group stayed as far away from the other as it was possible.

"So, What's this all about?" Tony began.

Burly stood at the ready with his ax in hand. Herbert hadn't been able to persuade them to leave their weapons at the door.

"We're here to make a deal," Burly said.

"What kind?"

"We know your daughter is a witch. We think she can figure a way to stop this curse."

"And save the troll nation," Blabberwort put in.

"And in return?" Tony asked.

"In return, we get rid of the watchers Mazarin left behind," Burly said.

"How?"

"Troll dust."

"That won't last very long," Tony said.

"It will if we use it as an opportunity to make their sleep permanent." Bluebell passed his knife in front of his throat in a cutting motion.

"But it doesn't do us any good if we can't stop the curse," Blabberwort said.

"Is it a deal?" Burly asked.

"You want us to work with you? After all you've done?"

"We don't have to be friends," Blabberwort said making a face.

"In fact, we'd prefer it if we weren't," Bluebell said.

"But we have a common enemy," Burly pointed out.

"So…the enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?" Tony asked.

"We're not friends," Burly said. "Only co-conspirators."

"You'll have to do something for me first."

"What's that?"

"Lower your ax. I can't talk reasonably with someone who's holding a weapon on me."

Burly shrugged and complied. Since none of the humans and wolves in the room seemed to have weapons, it seemed safe enough. Besides, Blabberwort and Bluebell still had their weapons.

"Catch!" Tony said, throwing Raphaela toward Burly.

Instinctively, the eldest troll caught the piece of twisted wood. There was no reason to try and ward it off because it looked harmless. Burly turned it over in his hands. "What's this for?"

"It's my wife's cane."

The cane in question pulled out of Burly's hands and flew into the air between her stepfather and the troll. "Actually, I'm Matilde's daughter," Raphaela said, as her other form appeared around the cane.

"What magic is this?" Blabberwort asked raising her weapon.

"They're sincere," Raphaela said. "At least as sincere as they know how to be. Mazarin's been holding them as servants. They've been resenting him and caring for the dragon outside. The dragon is Mazarin's pet. Her name is Baby?"

"Baby?" Virginia asked in astonishment.

Burly nodded.

"They're hoping that by ending the curse they'll be back in the good graces of their people. But they also honestly want to keep the trolls from dying."

"So we can trust them?"

"Where this is concerned."

"Can you read minds?" Burly asked.

"Yes. So I already know where Mazarin's watchers are. If you go back to the Island and take them out with troll dust, I can give you something to add to it that will make the spell last a very very long time."

"Like with Sleeping Beauty?" Bluebell asked. He'd always had a soft spot for her story.

"Yes. All we have to do is make sure no handsome princes wake them up."

"It sounds like a plan," Tony said. "When can you do it?"

"Sometime tonight I should think," Blabberwort said. "We picked up some troll dust on the way here."

"And some better shoes," Bluebell put in.

"We can re-mix the troll dust with my additive before you leave," Raphaela said.

"And Baby will give us a ride to our boat," Burly said.

"Where did the dragon come from?" Tony asked.

"From the dimension where Mazarin was imprisoned," Raphaela said. "She's a descendent of the last dragons from here. My grandmother sent them there in case they should ever be needed again."

"Needed? Who would ever need a dragon?" Tony asked in disgust.

"Hey!" Burly said. "She's family!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Victor had placed one group of his hired thugs in the upper area of the Fourth Kingdom the night before. Then he and the remainder of his group continued on their way to set up a base of operations in The Deadly Swamp. They were washing in a brook that fed into it when Mazarin made his announcement. By the time the evil wizard had finished speaking, a good number of Victor's followers had fled. The rest of them left as soon as they realized that one of their group had fallen under the curse during the night. They had all thought he was only sleeping late.

Victor suddenly found himself as the leader of a non-existent group. What was he going to do? He couldn't carry on the uprisings by himself. All he could do was leave the sleeping henchman where he was and sit down to a breakfast of jerky while he contemplated his next move.

As he sat eating, Victor heard an animal sound and the flapping of wings above him. "Ack ack," it said. And a letter addressed to him landed in his lap. It had Gavrilo's stamp on it.

"What's this?" Victor asked, jumping to his feet. He held onto the letter with one hand as he reached for his sword with the other.

A winged monkey landed just out of reach of his sword and gave him a deep bow.

Victor opened his mouth, but nothing came out. First a major curse from a long ago wizard. And now a winged monkey bringing him a letter and bowing to him. On any other day, he would have killed the creature on the spot. But the way things were going, it seemed more sensible to read the letter first.

The letter said that Gavrilo had decided to grab power in the midst of Cole's "illness." He offered to make Victor his Chancellor if he talked Barron Dragon-Slayer into taking the Fourth Kingdom's throne. Gavrilo wrote that he was arguing to those around him that the wolves were working with Mazarin and that the best way to end the curse was to launch an attack on the wolves who'd grabbed power. To that end, Gavrilo was sending troops to help take Wendell's castle and Victor and Barron were to meet them at the Disenchanted Forest. If they neglected to show, the attack on Wendell's castle would go on anyway. If they agreed to Gavrilo's plan, Victor and Barron would stand at the front of the Gavrilo's army and both would be rewarded greatly, especially Victor. The letter ended by saying that the hsigo was to be Gavrilo's eyes and ears and that he could understand human speech even though he could not talk as humans did.

"An hsigo?" Victor asked the paper in his hands. "How can such an animal understand anything so complicated as human speech?" He looked up at the dark brown beast in question. It bowed respectfully again. "You can understand me?"

The hsigo gave him a long nod.

"You're working with Gavrilo?"

Again the hsigo nodded.

"Is he working with ALL the hsigos?"

The monkey nodded again.

That explained why they had found it so easy to lead uprisings from The Disenchanted Forest without any interference from the creatures who lived there. "Is he working with the satyrs as well?"

Again a nod.

"Or have you simply been trained to nod to everything I say?"

The winged monkey's brown eyes looked deeply into Victor's as he shook his head slowly in the negative.

"How could Gavrilo do this? How could he go against everything that we've stood for?" Victor balled up the letter and threw it to the ground. "Animals like you and the wolves are our enemies!"

The monkey took a stick from the ground and wrote in the soft mud at the edge of the brook. "You will be Chancellor," it wrote.

Victor was both amazed and disgusted that the hsigo could write. But at the back of his mind other thoughts were taking hold. They might all be dead tomorrow because of the curse. But if they weren't….then Victor might become Chancellor over all of the Fifth Kingdom. And maybe the Fourth as well. He would have much power. For even though Gavrilo would make himself king, Victor would know about his secret relationship with the hsigos and satyrs...and that would give him power over Gavrilo.

This was too great an offer to refuse. His only other choice was to run off and hide like the fools he'd brought with him from the Fifth Kingdom. The worst that could happen was that he would still succumb to the curse and his reign as Chancellor would be cut short. He still hated animals like the wolves and the hsigos. But he wanted power more than anything.

"I'll leave for Farmingdell to speak to Barron Dragon-Slayer at once," Victor said. He sheathed his sword and tore up Gavrilo's letter, tossing the pieces into the brook.

The hsigo gave him another bow and then took to the skies.

- - - - - - - - - -

Barron was beside himself. His long-faced butler had been in the process of shaving him when his reflection was replaced by Mazarin's in the shaving mirror. Barron was horrified. He pushed his butler away and wiped the remainder of the shaving cream from his face. The left side was still bewhiskered, but he didn't care. He started pacing the room in a panic. When Felicity burst in, the butler took it as an opportunity to run.

"Brother! Did you hear?" Felicity was dressed in an outdoor gown. She'd already been out practicing her archery, the blush high on her face.

"What are we going to do?" Barron asked without looking at her.

"There must be some witches we can look to for help."

"Where? We outlawed witches in Farmingdell. They always caused trouble and spoke up too much."

"Then we'll look farther away."

"Who will listen to us? The name Dragon-Slayer no longer stands for what it once did. Without fear and reputation, what do we have? Nothing!"

"We have money. We'll pay the servants to give us the name of a seer." Felicity paused to hear her brother's agreement, but Barron was much too much into his pacing. So she went off to do as she said. When she got back, Barron was sitting on the edge of his bed with his large round head in his hands. "We have three people who are already under the curse," Felicity reported, "the head of the stables, one of the maids, and one of our guards. Everyone else in the house has fled. Some of the livestock is also under the curse. Your butler told me all this just as he was leaving. I offered to pay him handsomely if he would stay, but he refused."

"The noble House of Dragon-Slayer has fallen!" Barron cried out in despair.

"Not yet. We can ride out into the country side and see if we can find a gypsy. They should be starting north with the warmer weather."

"Go? Away from here? But this is our home, the center of our power."

Felicity bent down in front of her brother. "We've got to do something. We can't just sit here and wait for the curse to get us."

"What else is there to do? Except to hope that it will pass by our door."

"Barron, you can't give up like this!"

Felicity tried to pull Barron's hands away from his face, but he pushed her away, his eyes wild. He didn't see her; he only saw the thing he feared, the collapse of his power. Dying really wasn't important next to that. His whole life was about playing a role, of pretending to be an heir to the throne and a descendent of the great Dragon-Slayer line. He was essentially an actor who had been playing the same part for almost thirty years. If anything happened to change the plotline, he froze.

There was nothing to do. Felicity had seen this side of her brother before when the Evil Queen had tried to take power the first time. Some had urged Barron to lead troops against the Queen, but he had hidden in his room instead. He had the name Dragon-Slayer, but not the backbone. Felicity had had to cover for him, saying he was ill. In the end, troops from the First and Ninth Kingdoms had come to their rescue.

Once again it seemed that Felicity would have to take control. First, she fed the animals, since they would hopefully feed them. Then she tried her hand at preparing food, but her brother refused to eat. By nightfall she decided she needed to journey out to see what she could do. Somebody somewhere had to know how to end this. But she needed to put up some provisions for her brother, so he wouldn't go hungry while she was gone. That's what she was doing when she heard a terrific pounding on the front door at around ten o'clock. Before she could answer it, their guest had thrown open the door. Felicity met him in the stone entryway.

"It's time!" Victor announced, throwing his brown cape back over his shoulder. "Where's your brother? It's time for him to take the throne of the Fourth Kingdom and turn the wolves out!"

"What?" Felicity asked, wiping her soiled hands on her gown. It had looked very fashionable that morning when she'd put it on. Now it looked as tired as she did.

Victor took her hands. "Your brother needs to come with me! King Cole the betrayer is asleep and his Chancellor Gavrilo has taken power. Gavrilo is sending a small army to meet us at The Disenchanted Forest to wrest control of the Fourth Kingdom from the wolves."

"Really?" Hope crept into Felicity's weary face.

"Yes! You must put on something more impressive and then we must spirit your brother away!"

The gleam in Felicity's eyes dulled. "But my brother isn't feeling very well."

"He hasn't fallen under the curse, has he?"

"No. But it seems to have broken his courage. His whole existence is bound up in playing the part of being a Dragon-Slayer, of being in control. If things aren't actually in control he loses heart."

"Then we must encourage him. And drag him if we have to. In a few days time, if we all survive, he may be in control of the Fourth Kingdom!"


	25. Chapter 25 The Taking of The Tenth King...

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

**The Taking of The Tenth Kingdom**

When Mazarin and his followers stepped through Kai's mirror into Central Park, they were seen only by a passing dog walker who assumed they were actors trying to drum up business for Shakespeare in the Park. Mazarin and his followers didn't take much notice of the man and his dog either. Ordinary humans and animals weren't worth noticing. They were only good for servants, nothing more.

The evil wizard gave the signal and his followers dispersed. The majority of them sprinkled traveling dust over themselves and vanished to the edges of the city. Zafira and her group of winged fairies and elves changed themselves into pigeons and flew a few blocks down to await the next signal. Mazarin remained in the park.

The idea was to create a magic barrier over the entire island, using the water around it to anchor the spell. Mazarin watched in a small mirror, making sure that everyone was in place. His followers at the perimeter were all carrying small mirrors and they used them to affirm their whereabouts one by one.

"Now!" Mazarin commanded. And the chanting began.

It went on for several minutes as each one's powers fanned out to meet the others. The witch who had cast the sleeping spell over the griffin was at Battery Park. The few people who noticed her assumed she was a bag woman. There was a wingless fairy at the Cloisters. People who saw him assumed he was some kind religious fanatic because he was dressed in purple robes and seemed to be praying to himself. There was a winged elf at an empty dock not far from the Circle Line tourist boat on the west side of the island. He was shrunk down in size so he wouldn't be noticed. And the one Ice Fairy in their group was at Carl Shurtz park by the East River, pretending to be sunning herself. These and the others at the perimeter focused their powers into the center of the island to Mazarin, who sent it bouncing back outward again, engulfing the island in a transparent barrier that reached out into the East River almost to the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island City on one side, and into the Hudson River a respectable distance on the other.

The water on and around the island began to pulsate as the magic bubbled through it. Water towers on the top of some buildings began to break, sending sheets of water cascading to the ground. Several fire hydrants broke from the underground pressure. Zafira took that as her signal that the spell was well underway. She and her group changed into their natural shapes, but kept to a smaller size so they could move quickly above the city.

The male winged fairy who had helped steal Kai's mirror flew to the East River. Settling himself on the end of Roosevelt Island, he conjured up a vision of a giant and had it lumber up and down the river like a sentinel. The giant was a symbol that a new king had come to this kingdom and that he had the power to keep it.

Meanwhile, Mazarin's airborne followers continued their work. Some decorated the tall buildings with turrets that matched the ones back in the Nine Kingdoms. Others coated bridges and other open spaces with grass up to the magic barrier, to make it seem more homelike to some of the elves and fairies. And Zafira, she had the biggest job of all. She began the alteration of the Empire State Building. She grew a dark cloud over the building and began to build a mountain around it.

Mazarin joined Zafira at the Empire State Building as soon as the spell for the magic barrier was complete. They planned to make it their palace. Its central location worked well for maintenance of the spell. And they were building a mountain around it because Mazarin wanted to be reminded of the underground world of the Eighth Kingdom where he had grown up. "Besides," he had told Zafira, "it will be more like a fortress. I can control all access to it."

The ordinary humans living in New York didn't notice the changes right away. It was mid-morning at that point and everyone was busy in the non-magical world of work. At first they thought the exploding fire hydrants and broken water towers were isolated incidents, or something that might have been caused by underground construction. But then people saw the mountain developing around the Empire State Building, and the giant walking slowly through the water of the East River, and the cars and buses being held back by an invisible force as they tried to cross bridges and tunnels. And they knew something other-worldly was going on.

Con Edison rallied bravely to do what they could to halt the rolling black-outs. Other city officials struggled with the water issues that the beginnings of the spell had caused. Helicopters in the city suddenly found themselves held back and were forced to land. Planes trying to fly to and from LaGuardia and Kennedy saw the magic barrier on their radars and felt the magnetic push of it increase as they got closer. Pilots had to make wide detours around the island in order to maintain control of their planes. Radios played only static because the magic barrier interfered with radio waves. Cell phones shorted out as well. Land line phones still worked, but they quickly became overloaded. Rumors of all sorts raced through the streets and buildings.

Kai the Selkie had been working in the Manhattan offices of Magic Beer for the last couple of months, down near the Brooklyn Bridge. He'd been handling some backed up paper work and hoping that sometime soon Matilde and her uncle would come through the mirror and release the Murray family from the slave spell. If they didn't come soon he planned to journey back to the Nine Kingdoms to get them. He knew of a way to find the entrance to the one connected to Wendell's castle. All he would have to do is wait for it to be turned on.

He was rummaging through some file boxes in a windowless room when he noticed the lights flashing, but since they didn't stay out, he kept working. He was vaguely aware that there were murmurs of gathering Murrays outside the door, but he ignored them until their whisperings turned into screams. Then he came running. He found everyone clustered in one corner at the windows that ran the length of the room, looking at something upriver.

"What is it?" Kai asked.

But no one responded, they just kept looking upriver, fear and amazement etched into their faces.

Kai walked quickly to the window. He couldn't believe it. There was a giant walking down the East River toward the Brooklyn Bridge. He had brown hair that was a little lighter than his brown leather vest and high leather boots. The Murrays instinctively moved back from the window as the giant got closer, giving Kai a better look.

What was a giant doing in the East River, Kai asked himself. It would take an incredible amount of power to transport one across the dimensions. The only people in the Nine Kingdoms who could do it alone were Prince Brutus and Queen Matilde. But why would they do that? Then Kai noticed that the giant's leather boots looked dry, even though he was hiking through a splashing river. Was the giant real? Or was it an illusion?

Another Murray ran into the room. "The Empire State Building!" he called. "My brother called from our brewing facility in Brooklyn. He says there's a mountain growing around the Empire State Building! He can see it from his office."

"What??" the other Murrays exclaimed.

"He said he's been listening to the radio and the authorities are reporting that there seems to be some kind of force field around the island. I tried to get something on the radio here about it, but all I get is static. My brother says only the non-Manhattan stations are working on his end."

"My cell phone doesn't work!" one of the lady Murrays said, holding up the tiny dead item.

"I was talking to my brother on a regular phone. The connection was bad, but at least it was working."

The Murrays immediately started clustering and buzzing in confusion. Kai stood off by himself at the window, watching the giant move back up the river as if he were patrolling it.

This is magic, Kai said to himself. Criminal magic! But who would do such a thing? Had some new criminal escaped from the Nine Kingdoms into his adopted world?

"Good morning, everyone!" a voice boomed out jovially, as if from everywhere. "Or is it afternoon?"

The Murrays pulled out of their cluster and looked around to see where the strange voice was coming from. In every reflective surface in the room, there was a face with a long beard and red eyes.

"My name is Mazarin…the Great and Powerful! I am your new master. I have claimed this kingdom for my own! Henceforth, it shall be known as the Tenth Kingdom!"

"The Tenth what?" some Murray asked out loud.

"You are all my subjects!" Mazarin continued.

"He looks a little like our Master," one Murray woman said.

"But he's not," another pointed out. "Look at those eyes. And the hair and the mouth. That's NOT our beloved Master."

"How dare he look like our Master!" one of the Murray men said indignantly.

"We don't serve anybody but our Master," another Murray said.

"I have placed our kingdom in a protective sphere of magic," Mazarin went on, "to keep out any would-be conquerors. And we've made some new renovations to make the place more homey. My palace will be in the center of you all, deep within what I am going to call Mazarin's Mountain! Some of my ministers are gathering servants from it now, organizing them into labor teams. You will be meeting more of my ministers as the days go on. Many of them will be living within the Silver Wand Castle, which a couple of them have been working on. Others will be living at various places at the edge of our kingdom. Worship them as you would me and your lives will go easy. Give them a hard time and you won't live to regret it. I don't have time for disobedient human servants. I will be watching!" And with that, Mazarin was gone.

"Who does he think he is?" one of the Murrays asked. And they all started buzzing amongst themselves again.

Mazarin. It was Mazarin, Kai thought. Hadn't Wolf and Virginia said he was locked away somewhere? Well, evidently he'd gotten out and come through one of Kai's mirrors. Was it the one in the Northern Sea, or the one in young Wendell's castle that Virginia and Wolf had used? Were things all right in the Nine Kingdoms?

Kai had only seen Mazarin once long long ago when he had visited Matilde's mother one afternoon. Mazarin had come in, all full of youthful fury, complaining that Matilde had turned down his proposal of marriage. He wanted Sabirah to order Matilde to marry him at once because he was of the opinion that he was the only suitable suitor for her.

Sabirah had said that she couldn't do such a thing, that her daughter had to find her own destiny. And anyway Matilde had just gone away on an extended trip, to visit a number of different dimensions. At that, Mazarin's face had grown crimson red and his hands had snapped his cane in two. He marched out of the room vowing that they would all regret this. Kai never saw Mazarin again, but he'd heard things from Sabirah, especially the rumors about him being behind her granddaughter's death.

To Kai, Mazarin still looked a lot like Tony Lewis, but of course he'd never met Virginia's father and he'd only seen Mazarin briefly over four hundred years before. The Murrays seemed convinced that the man appearing on their computer screens and in the reflection of the windows was not their beloved Master. Even the Murrays who'd come to New York from the Midwest after Tony had fled to the Nine Kingdoms seemed to be sure. It had to be because of the spell they were under. It must have had a sort of "accept no imitations" clause.

"We've got to stop him!" one of the Murray women exclaimed. "We can't let him go around impersonating the Master."

"I agree," Kai said. "And lucky for us, I have a plan. It may not stop him completely. But it will surely give him trouble."

- - - - - - - - - -

The mayor of New York City happened to be out of town that day. So the police chief decided to take things into his own hands. Early in the afternoon he launched an attack on the new mountain that had engulfed the Empire State Building, not knowing that Mazarin and Zafira had already prepared for this.

During her undercover visit to the city, Zafira had learned about the primary weapons of the humans on this side of the mirror. She had watched television through a couple of apartment windows in her guise as a pigeon and she had seen a couple of "police actions" in progress. She didn't have time to learn about guns in depth, but she was afraid they might have the power to kill Mazarin and his followers. They couldn't afford to lose any of their number because the magic holding the Tenth Kingdom was stretched to the limit. If even one of them were incapacitated, their control might fail. So they had to trump the human weapons with magic, doing something flashy, but not too draining.

When the police cars and SWAT teams started rolling against Mazarin's Mountain, they were ready. One of their team, an elf, had brought a small Mirror of Forgetfulness. She handed it to Zafira as the swarm of determined humans advanced on the mountain. They and another fairy reflected their magic into the mirror and out over the area around them. To the people on the ground, there was a flash of light, a moment of unconsciousness, and then confusion. The police and SWAT teams came wandering out of their vehicles, wide-eyed and bewildered. They didn't know who they were or why they were there. It was easy for Zafira's team to sprinkle them with traveling dust and transport them into the depth of the mountain to become servants to Mazarin. Since they had no real memory of anything else, they were easy to control. And Mazarin was sure that word of what had happened would spread and act as a deterrent to anyone who thought to go against them. At least, that's what he thought.

While the police chief had been amassing his attack, Kai was preparing his. Luckily Kai had begun preparing for something like this the first time he'd seen Tony Lewis's picture. He went from the offices of Magic Beer to the East Village to meet the witches and warlocks that he knew would be gathering. Most of them weren't as powerful as Snow White's Stepmother, but Kai was pretty sure their magic would be enough to cause trouble.

"I need to know what pattern their magic is taking," Kai told his group of followers.

"I can see it," a young woman with dyed black hair, black eye-shadow, and filmy black clothing said. She pulled a crystal ball out of her black shoulder bag and laid it on her lap.

Kai waited patiently as the girl concentrated and stared into her crystal. He knew the ball wasn't anything like Matilde's. It didn't have any magic within itself. It only acted to help focus the young woman's power.

"They're spread out over the perimeter of the island," the young seer said. "I can see their energy traveling to the mountain and circling back out again to the water. That's what's causing the barrier around the island."

"It's doubling in on itself. That makes it pretty strong, especially with an older wizard standing at the center controlling it. The first thing we have to do is hamper the flow of energy. We need to gather at least thirteen and have them chant the spell I gave you once that can take down a magic barrier."

"Where shall we meet?" a middle-aged man with blond hair and a goatee asked.

"It needs to be someplace centrally located, so that it can interfere with the magic center. I think Tony Lewis's apartment will do nicely. I'll tell the Murrays to expect us there this evening."

"Tony Lewis's?" the blond man asked. "Are you sure he's not Mazarin? I mean, you were so sure he was….and then you said he wasn't….and now…."

"Mazarin and Tony Lewis aren't the same person. Even if I have trouble telling the difference, the Murrays knew it at a glance. Since they're tied to him by a spell, I'm sure they'd know if he were the same person. Tony Lewis is probably related to Mazarin somehow, somewhere. It doesn't matter. Mazarin is the one we need to worry about. While you're chanting, I'll be going around town with the Murrays, circulating the charms we've made and leaving some scattered underground through various tunnels. The Murrays will keep making them till the whole island is overrun with them. With any luck, we'll be able to shoot some holes in their magic and make it unstable."

"And then what?"

"Then, if we're lucky, we can throw them off balance. The authorities outside will no doubt launch an attack of some kind to defend us. But anything they try will probably fail, unless we can weaken the barrier."

"You don't think they can bomb their way through without us helping?"

"Not unless they use something strong enough to destroy the island. Not with the magic doubled in on itself. So we're going to try and help them."

- - - - - - - - - -

There was already a sizable group at Tony's when Kai arrived later that evening. He'd been setting up teams of Murrays to handle the charms. When he arrived, the chanting was already well under way, lead by a heavyset black woman named Nyota, sitting at the center of a circle.

"Inso eli todop ry," they chanted.

"Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

Of course none of them knew what the words meant. But they trusted Kai. Even though he didn't have any magic of his own, he seemed to have great knowledge of it.

Virginia's grandmother was also at Tony's apartment. She'd been trying to watch one of her soap opera's when Mazarin's magic had interfered. She'd been incensed at Mazarin's resemblance to her son-in-law. She'd never liked Tony much, but he certainly had better manners than this madman who called himself a wizard. What would her friends say? Would they assume that this mad Mazarin was connected to her family because he looked like her son-in-law? The horror of it! When Mr. Murray came to her apartment to see if she was OK, he told her that his family would do everything in their power to fight this man who looked so much like his Master. (Virginia's Grandmother never thought it was weird that the Mr. Murray called Tony Master. She thought Tony was merely maintaining proper employer/employee relations. Christine didn't get all of her delusions of grandeur from her father, after all.)

And so, Grandma had joined with the Murrays and was now staying at Tony's apartment under the protective eye of Mr. Murray. She didn't seem bothered by the chanting and she had her stun gun at the ready in case this man who looked like her son-in-law dared come any where near her.

"Can you imagine the nerve!" Virginia's grandmother asked Kai. "Taking over New York like that, without even notifying any of the important people! We've got to do everything we can to send him back where he came from. Right, Roland?" she asked turning to her dog.

The dog barked energetically.

One of Kai's younger protégé's nodded. She was sitting out the chanting at that point. "What frightens me is the spell I heard they used on the police today."

"They must have used a Mirror of Forgetfulness," Kai said. "They aren't hard to use if you have enough magic. Nyota could do the same thing, if she were only dealing with one person. It can be used for many things, like on oneself to lose painful memories." He had once considered using such a mirror, to make himself forget his long lost love. But he hadn't been able to do it. "They can also be used for evil. Some from the old days used those mirrors to control slaves. That's what Mazarin seems to be doing."

"Well after today, not many are likely to try and stand against him."

"Except for us," Kai said. "And I think we can talk a lot of people into carrying our harmless looking charms."

"Don't forget, there are a lot of people in my family," Mr. Murray chimed in proudly. "We can cover a lot of ground just by ourselves."

At that, the electric lights in the room failed and the flickering candles they'd had at the ready took over.

"Just let him try and use that forgetfulness mirror on me," Virginia's grandmother said, holding up her stun gun. "I'll give him a shock he'll never forget!"


	26. Chapter 26 Bells

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

**Bells**

When the trolls got back to Hunter's Island, they didn't waste any time. Since Mazarin's three watchers were so lost in their own worlds, it was easy to take them out with the doctored troll dust that Raphaela had helped them put together. Hercules the elf was already snoozing in front of the magic mirror, so Burly had no trouble dousing him with troll dust and making his sleeping state more permanent. Elissa the wood nymph was too busy admiring the curve of her eyebrows in the mirror to notice Blabberwort standing at her open door, aiming her sling shot at her. Nestor the experimenter was a little harder because he was locked up in his room. But when Bluebell knocked on his door and said, "Mazarin wants to speak to you at once on the mirror in Hercules's room!" Nestor immediately unlocked his door and headed for the stairs without glancing once at the troll. Bluebell hardly had to aim to bring Nestor down.

For the first time in a long time, the trolls were their own masters. They celebrated by indulging in some magic mushrooms. When Tony appeared sometime near dawn with Raphaela in cane form, they were sprawled all over the kitchen, congratulating themselves.

"Well?" Tony asked. "I take it from this disgusting scene that you were successful."

"Of course!" Burly said, trying to raise his ax (and himself) up from the floor.

"They were no match for us!" Blabberwort said. She was sprawled over a table near the door.

"I wish Mazarin had been here," Bluebell said. He seemed to be the one most in control. He was seated sideways in a chair near the ovens. "We would have put him to sleep too!"

"Yes, well we'd all like to get back at him," Tony said. "But now we've got to help the rest of the Nine Kingdoms. You think you can get up."

"Of course," Blabberwort said. "We are troll warriors!"

But she found it harder than she thought. Bluebell had to help her up. And they both had to help Burly.

"The first thing you need to know," Tony said, "is that the curse can be warded off if you wear a bell." He held up the small bell that was hanging around his neck on a leather string.

"A bell?" Blabberwort said.

"That's why Mazarin has that bell around Baby's neck," Burly said.

"Will bells cure the curse?"

"No," Tony said. "We don't know how to undo the curse yet. But at least we can stop its progression. Are there any bells here?"

The trolls swayed as they thought.

"I think there are some in the barn," Bluebell said. Being the youngest, he had always gotten the less exciting jobs, like cleaning and fetching. He knew the castle better than the other trolls. "I think I remember seeing some on an old horse's harness. And there are some in the rooms upstairs, so Mazarin's watchers can call us when they want us."

"That's right!" Blabberwort said. "I forgot about that. Mazarin never used them himself because he preferred yelling. Zafira too."

"And there's one in the dining room!" Burly said.

"Let's gather them up," Tony said. "Then we'll take you back to your kingdom and you can spread the word to your people."

As it turned out, Tony and Bluebell did most of the gathering. There were seven hand bells and a bell harness that probably belonged to a sleigh at one time. The trolls each took a bell and put the rest in a leather bag.

"We need to go to Baby first," Burly said, as they prepared to leave. "She can fly us around the kingdom. It'll be much faster."

"That's good!" Blabberwort said, thumping her brother on the back. "It will make us look strong."

"Yeah!" Bluebell agreed. "We'll be very impressive coming down out of the clouds on the back of a dragon!"

Tony sighed to himself. He couldn't believe he was working with this bunch. "Right. Let's get along then. Everyone hold hands."

The trolls grimaced.

"It's the only way for the magic to include all of us."

The trolls did as they were told, but they closed their eyes so they could pretend it wasn't happening.

Tony sprinkled them with traveling dust and Raphaela's magic guided them to Baby. They found the green dragon breakfasting on some beanstalk branches next to the brook with Sammy the toad. Since Baby was used to the magical nature of traveling dust, she accepted their sudden appearance as normal. Sammy, however, jumped several feet in the air and dived into the deep end of the brook.

Baby had to call to Sammy several times before he would come out.

"You got to watch that!" Sammy croaked breathlessly as he pulled out of the water. "You could give a toad a heart attack."

Burly didn't like the toad much. He especially didn't like having an interpreter between him and Baby. Still, there wasn't much choice. Burly explained they had to go and search for the other trolls in the Third Kingdom to tell them how to stop the curse. When he explained that bells could do it, Baby got very excited and let out a series of snarls.

"Baby says, you should give me a bell," Sammy told them. "Or else she's not going anywhere."

"Who ever heard of a frog wearing a bell?" Blabberwort asked.

"You think I like the idea?" Sammy said with disgust. "It's not something a respectable toad would wear. But there's no choice. No choice for any of us. Whether we like it or not, we're all gonna have to wear bells from now on, until the curse is ended. And not just me. The other animals are going to need them too."

"I hadn't thought of that," Tony said.

Burly pulled one of the bells off the leather horse harness they'd brought and attached it to the leather collar around his neck.

"Well, you better think about it," Sammy said, taking the bell collar from Burly and fastening it around his waist like a thick belt. "Before long, this whole forest is going to be covered with sleeping animals. Already if you look around, there are plenty of birds and a couple of deer. How you gonna help them? And what about the giants?"

"We can't help the giants," Blabberwort said. "They're behind a magic barrier. We can't get to them."

"We can't help everyone right away," Tony said. "There's a shortage of bells."

"Trolls know how to work metal," Burly said. "We're very good at putting together armor and weapons. Bells should be easy."

"We're almost as good at working metal as we are at making shoes," Blabberwort agreed.

"We can make enough for most of our people pretty quick."

"Or we could simply steal the bells," Bluebell suggested.

"No," Burly said. "It would be fun. But we'd have to do a lot of traveling and more of our people could fall under the curse. It's faster for us to just make the bells."

Once again Tony wished he hadn't had to align himself with the trolls. "If you see any Ice Maidens, ask them to go to the Sixth Kingdom and tell everyone there about the bells."

"We'll do that," Blabberwort said. "We'd like them to leave as soon as possible. The Sixth Kingdom is as good a place for them to go as any."

"Yeah," Burly agreed.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Tony and Raphaela arrived back at Wendell's castle they found a sizeable gathering in the ballroom. Wolf was at the center of a group of wolves, including Timka. Rose was discussing different strategies with her Chancellor, Kobsa (the head of her wolf troops), and a human general. And Virginia, Herbert, Rupert, and other assorted castle-dwellers were huddled together in another group. Herbert was holding young Anthony.

Tony pushed his way into their midst. "Everyone! Can I have your attention please! The trolls have neutralized Mazarin's watchers. So our next step is to tell everyone that wearing bells will hold back the curse."

Raphaela pulled out of Tony's hand and appeared in her visual form. "I'm the only one here who can transport people magically right now. We need to get word to the other kingdoms at once."

"I'll send out the bulk of our troops to tell people in the Fourth Kingdom," Rose said.

"Good," Raphaela said. "While you're doing that, Tony and I will go to the Eighth Kingdom to talk to my people. With their magic, they can spread the word fast. Hopefully they will listen to us."

"They have to," Tony said. "While your mother's asleep, you're their queen."

"Perhaps. But since I've been such a deep dark secret all these years, it will be hard for them to believe."

"We'll make them believe. Then, I'd like to stop at this Snoozing Castle and bring your mother home, so she can at least be with us. After we get back, Virginia should go to the Seventh Kingdom. Again, the elves can use traveling dust to cover a large area quickly."

"We should try and find Leaf Fall's daughters," Virginia said. "They can mobilize the other elves."

"What about the gypsies," Timka said, walking away from the group of wolves around Wolf. "My mother would want them notified."

"They're going to be harder to find," Tony said. "You said they'd be leaving the winter camp grounds by now. They're probably scattered all over the place."

"Go to Old Elsa. She's always at the winter camp grounds. She'll know how to contact everyone else."

"Fine. After Virginia and Raphaela get back from the Seventh Kingdom, Raphaela and I will travel to the First, Fifth, and Ninth Kingdoms and tell them what we know so far. The trolls said they would send whatever Ice Maidens they find to the Sixth Kingdom. That only leaves the Second Kingdom. And I assume Wolf will take care of that."

All eyes turned to Wolf. A few of the wolves began to grumble.

"Yes," Wolf said. "I'll go. It's my duty. A wolf's gotta do what a wolf's gotta do."

"You don't have to hand over power to this human, this Maria Thompson," said Camus, the full blooded wolf with the spotted white snout. "This is our chance to have a kingdom of our own. To seize the land of Red Riding Hood and undo all the wrongs that were ever done to us."

Some of the wolves around Camus grumbled their agreement. Young Rubin the dark gray wolf was standing with them, but he remained silent. He wasn't sure that the wolves needed their own kingdom. He had joined Camus's group mainly because he wasn't sure that Wolf was a proper Alpha.

"You're forgetting that I'm a Red Riding Hood," Wolf said. "I have an obligation to my family. By taking the title of prince, I gave my Cousin Red my solemn wolf word that I would keep her kingdom safe. And that's what I intend to do."

The group of wolves immediately around Wolf muttered their agreement. Most of them were of mixed blood, but not all. This group thought wolves were about family, whatever the mix.

"What about your wolf side?" Camus snapped back. "What about your grandfather Carpathian?"

"I am sure my cousin Maria Thompson will watch out for our people."

"How can you be so sure? Do you know her? Have you spent any time with her, outside of one small gathering at Red Riding Hood's castle just after the war? No! The only thing you know about her is that she's a farmer. That's all any of us knows about her. She may hate us as many farmers do! She may return to the time of the night riders!"

"I will make sure she doesn't."

"How? You are the one who has the title of prince! You are the one who should be ascending the throne! If you're shirking your duty by bowing to her on this, how can we be sure you won't bow to her on everything else? If Red Riding Hood the Third dies from this curse, this Maria will permanently become queen. This is an important question for our people."

Wolf growled, his eyes growing yellow. "I will see to both sides of my family!"

"How? By shunning your duty? The wolves deserve a better leader than you!"

Wolf rounded on Camus as if ready for a fight. Camus growled, but backed away. He was old. He knew he couldn't win a battle with the much younger Wolf. He had only wanted to make his point. He turned and walked out of the ballroom, followed by a sizeable group of mostly full-blooded wolves. Rubin, however, remained where he was.

"I think you should stay here," Timka said to Wolf. "Here is where most of our people are. Camus is right. We should have our own kingdom. Perhaps this one…"

"I said no!!" Wolf said, showing his teeth. "And Rose won't start a wolfen kingdom here either."

Rubin glided to Timka's side and pushed him toward the door with his snout, urging him to back off. Timka gave Wolf the angriest expression he could come up with. Then he marched out of the ballroom with Rubin trotting behind.

- - - - - - - - - -

After Tony and Raphaela left for the Eighth Kingdom the others attended to their own duties. Rose went off to oversee the preparations for her troops. Rupert went to start the manufacture of more bells. Wolf continued talking to his wolfen followers. And Virginia decided to clean up before her trip to the Seventh Kingdom. She asked Herbert to continue watching Anthony since Wolf was busy.

Like everyone else in the castle, Virginia had only cat-napped the night before and hadn't changed. The cool water in the basin in her room was soothing to her tired face. As she slid the wash cloth down the back of her neck she wondered what Leaf Fall's daughters were doing. She hoped they'd risen to the challenge and had taken the Seventh Kingdom in hand. But what if they hadn't?

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Virginia called.

But no one did. Instead there was another knock.

"Come in! Virginia called with impatience.

But still no one came in. There was just another knock.

"What is it?" Virginia grabbed a towel to mop her face and whipped open the door. "Yes?"

But there was no one there. At least as far as she could tell. She didn't have time for such silliness. And she didn't see how anyone else in the castle did either. She slammed the door shut and turned around.

Immediately her eyes were caught by the sparkle of silver. There on the foot of her and Wolf's bed were a pair of glass slippers, glowing with a soft blue light. Virginia recognized them immediately as Cinderella's slippers.

"Oh!" Virginia said. She threw her towel on the bed and picked up one of the slippers. It sparkled as if in greeting. "How did you get here?" she asked, running both of her hands over it. "Oh, I understand. You heard about Cinderella, didn't you?"

The shoes sparkled again, but their shine was softer and somehow sadder.

"I'm really sorry," Virginia said. She put the slipper back gently on the bed. "We're trying to do what we can. My dad's off in the Eighth Kingdom introducing them to Matilde's daughter. And I'm getting ready to go to the Seventh Kingdom to see Leaf Fall's daughters. Do you know them?"

The shoes sparkled.

"Yeah, well, you're one up on me. I've never actually met them." Virginia didn't know why she was talking to the shoes, but somehow they seemed alive, like Wolf had said. She left them sitting on the bed as she went rummaging through her closet. She picked out a green gown, hoping that if she wore the official color of the Seventh Kingdom she might look more official. After she put it on, she looked at herself in the mirror. Rupert was definitely right. Blue was more her color, but that wasn't the important thing at the moment. She put the bell back around her neck and pulled out a pair of green slippers to match the dress. When she sat down to put them on, her eye was once again caught by the sparkle of silver. Cinderella's slippers had jumped down from the bed and were walking themselves over to her. "What the…?" Virginia sputtered.

The singing ring wiggled to life on her hand.

"When you touched them, I did see," the ring sang.

"They have a life and destiny.

If their owner, they do lose,

Another one they must choose."

"A new owner? You mean….they're choosing me?"

"Cinderella thinks you wise,

That's important in their eyes.

For as long as she does sleep,

You may keep them on your feet."

"Wow! They're beautiful." Virginia pushed her green satin shoes aside and picked up the glass slippers. She put them on reverently. Then she admired them in the full length mirror by the closet. Their blue glow didn't match her green gown, but she figured even Rupert would forgive her in this case.

"I can't wait for Wolf to see them," Virginia said out loud.

And suddenly, she found herself standing before her husband. He was still in the ballroom talking to his more faithful followers.

"Virginia!" Wolf said, his eyes wide.

The wolves around him backed up, amazed at the magic. "Her shoes!" one of the part wolves said, pointing. "Aren't those Cinderella's?"

Virginia raised the hem of her gown a bit so everyone could see them better. The slippers responded by sparkling up a storm.

"So they are," Wolf gasped. "No other shoes look like that. How did you get them?"

"They just sort of came to me. I was standing looking at them in the mirror. And I said I couldn't wait for you to see them. And suddenly, here I am."

Wolf nodded. "There are some who say Cinderella's slippers took her to the ball and back. And there are others who say she came by a magic carriage. I think you just settled the question."

"Then I can travel anywhere?"

"I don't know."

Virginia looked down at her feet. "Maybe I don't have to wait for Daddy and Raphaela to get back. Shoes…can you take me to the Moss Castle of the Seventh Kingdom?"

Immediately, Wolf and the others around him disappeared and Virginia found herself alone in the empty receiving hall of the Moss Castle. This was where Leaf Fall usually met visiting dignitaries and subjects. It was a dark room, like most of those in the castle. The towering pines that surrounded it filtered out most of the sunlight, but lanterns bright with fairy fire kept it from looking gloomy.

"Hello?" Virginia called. But there was no answer. She knew there had to be some elf version of Herbert looking after it, even with the evil of the curse looming over everything. The elves considered it a very important place.

Virginia checked Leaf Fall's offices, hoping that she'd find one of her daughters there. But it was empty. Then she thought of the kitchen. If there were anyone in the castle, surely the kitchen would show signs of life. After heading down a couple of back stairwells, Virginia found the kitchen. And sure enough, a frazzled cook was throwing together some lunch.

"Excuse me," Virginia said.

The nervous young elf turned and gave a little shriek of surprise. "Who are you?" he asked, his wings twitching. "Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry I frightened you. I'm Princess Virginia, Queen Leaf Fall's Second."

"Ah," the elf said. "I've heard about you. What do you want? Things are very difficult here right now."

"Yes, I know. I've come to help. We've learned that wearing bells can stop the curse from moving forward." She held up the little silver bell around her neck. "We have to get the news out as quickly as possible and we thought you might help."

"Bells?" The elf wrinkled his nose at her. "How would a human like you know that?"

"It wasn't me who found out. It was Queen Matilde's daughter Raphaela. She told us."

"Queen Matilde doesn't have a daughter."

"Yes she does." Virginia suddenly wished that she'd waited for Raphaela before coming. She'd thought this was going to be easy. Leaf Fall had often told her that the elves don't respect humans, but they'd always shown her such deference when she was in Leaf's company, she'd hoped they'd listen to her. Obviously without her step-sister in attendance, things weren't going to be the same. "Raphaela has been kept a secret."

"Prove it."

"I can't right now. It's not important anyway. We need to get word out that wearing bells will ward off the curse. That way we can hold it back till we come up with a way to stop it."

The elf was unmoved. "How did you get here? The forest is very dense in order to keep out trespassers."

"I came with the magic of Cinderella's slippers," Virginia said, ignoring the implied insult. She stepped out from behind the kitchen island and lifted up her skirts. The slippers sparkled so brightly, they lit up everything around her.

The elf gasped and stepped back. This was big magic, something he could respect. "Where did you get those?"

"They came to me."

"On their own?"

"Yes."

"Cinderella's shoes brought you here? To tell us how to stop the curse? Then we must tell everyone at once!" The elf took off his apron and threw it onto the nearest counter. "There are very few of us left in the castle. But we'll do what we can."

"How have things been here?"

"Not good. I think most of our people are hiding in the forest. Elves feel safer when surrounded by nature."

"Where are Leaf Fall's daughters?"

"If I had to guess, I would say they were in that waterfall King Woodbine is so fond of."

"Oh," Virginia said. "The one at the edge of the Ninth Kingdom?" That was where Woodbine and Leaf Fall had hidden during The Magic War.

"Yes, that's it. Neither of the princesses was in the castle when the curse fell. I would have known because Princess Amaranth always takes a special kind of tea and there weren't any calls for us to make it."

"All right. Can you start getting the word out about the bells? I'll try and find Princess Amaranth."

"Of course," the young elf said with a little bow.

What a difference a pair of shoes make, Virginia said to herself. She lifted up her skirts again and looked down at Cinderella's slippers. "Shoes…do you think you could take me to Princess Amaranth?"

She didn't need to ask twice. Before Virginia could think, the flag stones of the kitchen floor disappeared from beneath her feet and she was standing on a path of gravel in a cave lit by fairy lanterns. Somewhere behind her was the thunder of a waterfall.

"You guys move awfully fast," Virginia told the slippers. "I guess Amaranth must be down this way."

Virginia started walking away from the sound of the falls, further into the mountain. She'd only gone a little distance when a tiny creature, only about the size of a moth, came winging towards her. It buzzed right up to her face. Virginia was about to swat it away when she realized it was a tiny elf girl.

"What do you want?" the young elf demanded.

"I'm here to see Princess Amaranth. Is she here?"

"And who are you?"

"I'm Princess Virginia, Second to Queen Leaf Fall."

"Really?" The elf looked her over, folding her legs under her and leaning back in mid-air with the expression of a bad-tempered child. "So you're the one. Princess Amaranth wasn't very happy about it. You know….a human being named as Second."

"Well, I'm happy to give her the job any time she likes. All she has to do is ask. I'm sure her mother would prefer her anyway."

The elf sniffed. "And why do you want to see the princess?"

"I know how to delay the curse."

This got the little elf's attention. "You do? How?"

"Bells. If you wear a bell, it will hold back the curse."

"Really?"

"Yes. I need to talk to the princess about it at once."

"All right. She's down this way," the elf said, flying on ahead.

The path soon branched off into three corridors. Then it branched off into four after that. Finally, they walked into a room decorated in shades of lime. A young woman in a larger size with elfish wings was seated on an array of floor pillows, pouring over a pile of books. She had light brown hair and a face very similar to Leaf Falls's. She looked as if she were in her late teens, but Virginia knew she was much older.

The tiny elf that had been leading Virginia immediately shot to her mistress and buzzed in her ear for a minute or two, no doubt cluing her in as to who Virginia was and why she was there. When she was finished, she flew out of the room, leaving them alone.

Amaranth slowly closed her book and looked at Virginia with a hint of distrust.

Virginia thought it best to begin by showing the elf princess the proper respect. "Your Highness," she said, lifting her skirts and curtsying.

"Those shoes!" Amaranth said in an accusatory tone. "Where did you get them?"

Virginia looked down at the slippers. They were once again showing off by putting out an extra amount of sparkle.

"They….just came to me."

"Just came to you?" Amaranth got to her feet. She was on the tall side with an erect bearing that reminded Virginia of Woodbine. Amaranth wasn't wearing a crown, but she held her head as if she were. Her tone of voice was one of a disapproving monarch. "Those are the shoes of a queen! You shouldn't be wearing them."

"Well, they seem to have other ideas."

Amaranth's lips pursed into a tight pout. First her mother had chosen this human as her Second and now Cinderella's slippers had chosen her as well. "Where did you find this out, about the bells? I've been searching in all my father's magic books and I've seen nothing about it."

"I learned it from Queen Matilde's daughter, Raphaela."

"Impossible. Queen Matilde has no daughter."

"She's been forgotten because she's been under a sort of…curse. But she was familiar with this spell."

Amaranth nodded. It wasn't hard for her to believe that the daughter of someone as powerful as Matilde might be placed under a curse by an enemy. She sometimes feared it for herself because not everyone agreed with her mother's recent actions. "I'll send out a few servants to spread the word. Now…is that all you came for?"

"No. I was hoping that you might go to the Moss Castle and help lead your people and spread the word beyond the Seventh Kingdom. I'm sure it's something your parents would want."

"My mother maybe, but not my father."

"Your kingdom needs a leader."

"No it doesn't. My mother was entirely too obsessed with being queen. I won't be like that. Maybe my sister wants the job. You can ask her if you can find her. But I don't think elves need a kingdom. Kingdoms are a human concept and I don't have time for humans. I don't mind doing something for the common good of all, when it affects both elf and human. But there are limits."

"Your Highness…if you would just…"

"Our audience is over!" Amaranth waved her hand and suddenly Virginia found herself near the spot where she'd come in.

"Well. That didn't go very well," Virginia muttered. "At least she's going to make sure the word gets out about the bells. OK, Shoes…take me back to Wendell's castle."

Virginia waited expectantly, but nothing happened. She was still standing on the gravel path. And she noticed the sparkle had gone out of the slippers.

"What's wrong?" Virginia asked. "Let's go. Back to the Fourth Kingdom!"

Still nothing happened.

Virginia clicked her heels like she'd seen in a movie once, but that didn't do any good either. "Is something wrong? Or do you wanna go somewhere else?"

The slippers flashed to life at that. In the blink of an eye Virginia suddenly found herself in another tunnel-like place lit by fairy lanterns at the edge of a brook.

"Where am I?" Virginia asked.

"You're under the Moss Castle," a deep voice answered from the shadows.

"Where?" Virginia looked around her, but she didn't see anyone.

"The Moss Castle," the voice said with irritation.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right in front of you, you silly girl. Can't you see me? Look down!"

Virginia looked down and there on a rock at the brook's edge was a large toad, not unlike the one that had guarded the downstairs cellars of Wendell's castle…until her father had blown him up by throwing him through the booby trapped door. "Are you the guardian of this brook?"

"Guardian? What? Are you stupid, girl? You may be wearing Cinderella's slippers, but you don't seem to have a brain in your head."

"I just thought…I mean, I met one of your kind before and he was working as a door guardian."

"We don't have any guardians down here. Before the curse there were elf sentries at either end of the castle where the brook came in and out. But they've since run away. Magic folk! They think they're all powerful. But when they find out they're not, they get more scared than those of us who have no power at all. What are you doing here, girl?"

"I don't know. The slippers just brought me here."

"Well, I'm sure it's not to see me. Princess Forsythia is down at the other end of the tunnel, hiding like all the others. Maybe you're supposed to see her. I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't listen."

"Down this way?" Virginia asked, pointing to her right.

"Yes. Silly elf. Not bad enough we have to worry about this silly curse." And with that, he jumped into a deeper part of the brook.

Just as the toad said, Virginia found a young elf girl sitting on a large rock near the open end at the back of the castle. She looked even younger than her sister. She had dark hair and a soft face. Her wings hung limply at her sides, as if she were under a great strain.

"Princess Forsythia?"

"Yes," the young elf said. She looked at Virginia with sad brown eyes.

"I'm Princess Virginia, your mother's Second."

"How did you get here?"

"Cinderella's shoes." Virginia lifted her skirts to show the sparkling slippers. "They wanted me to talk to you."

"Why?"

"I've already talked to your sister. I told her that wearing bells can stop the curse. She said she'd get the word out, but she doesn't want to take control of the kingdom. She said I could ask you."

"No. Not me!" Forsythia got to her feet; they were bare and spotted with mud from the brook. "I'm not a queen. Younger daughters don't have to be queen. I know Amaranth doesn't want the job. She thinks we shouldn't have an official kingdom, just live with those of royal bloodline lording it over the others and ignoring the humans as much as possible. I don't know if she's right about that. But I know I'm not the queen type."

"Like it or not, you DO have humans in your kingdom and they need your leadership. I think the elves need it too, although I doubt any of them would say so."

"No. I'm not the queen type." And with that, Forsythia shrank down in size and flew off.

"Well, that didn't go well either." Virginia looked down at the slippers. "Where do you want to go now?"

No sooner had she asked the question, than she found herself in a room full of people. Their attention seemed to be centered on the floating figure of an older woman. She was more transparent than Raphaela was in her visible form. If Virginia had to guess, she would have guessed it was a ghost. The woman had very long silver gray hair tied back with what appeared to be a braid of her own hair. Her transparent gown seemed to be of light baby blue. She had the bearing of a queen. In fact, the corporeal folks around her were all inclining away from her and wincing, as if she'd been giving them a serious dressing down. But of course that stopped when Virginia appeared in their midst. All eyes were now on her.

"Hi!" Virginia said.

"Who are you?" the ghost demanded floating toward the newcomer.

Virginia would have liked to ask the ghost the same thing, but she thought better of it. "I'm Princess Virginia, Queen Leaf Fall's Second," she said once again. It hadn't impressed anyone so far, but she kept hoping.

"Virginia!" the ghost said throwing her arms out in welcome. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"How do you do?" Virginia said hesitantly.

"Of course. You don't know who I am. We haven't been formerly introduced. Sir Marmion, introduce us!"

A squat old man stepped forward. "Allow me to present Her Majesty, Queen Rapunzel! One of the Five Women Who Changed History!" His voice dropped. "Now deceased."

No one noticed Sergeant Tarquin slip out of the room; their attention was too centered on Virginia and Rapunzel.

"Yes," Rapunzel acknowledged. "But being deceased hasn't slowed me down any. I'm just limited a bit by having to stay in the immediate area where my son lives. I'm not complaining. It was my choice. I wanted to come back and see to it that my boy was a good king. Since I spent much of my youth in a tower, it doesn't seem all that strange to me. Cole has told me so much about you and your husband!" Rapunzel clapped her hands, but they didn't make any sound.

"Oh," was all Virginia could say. After all, what do you say to a deceased legend?

Rapunzel wasn't bothered by Virginia's reaction, she assumed it was awe. "Why are you here?" the ghost rambled on. "Lord Marmion was just telling me that your father was here earlier, talking downstairs with my boy's chancellor. He was in the company of an enchanted cane that claims to be Matilde's daughter and they said something about how wearing bells can stop the curse from advancing. That fool Gavrilo won't believe them. He pretended he did, though, just to get rid of them. Lord Marmion says Gavrilo isn't planning to spread the word about it. Instead he's telling everyone that this whole curse was started by the wolves working in tandem with Mazarin. That fool doesn't remember The Magic War like I do. Mazarin wouldn't work with anyone who didn't have magic. He hated creatures like wolves and trolls even more than he hated regular humans. He wouldn't think they were capable of anything. But Gavrilo won't listen to me. They've sent out at least two battalions of soldiers to take Wendell's castle."

"What?" Virginia asked in alarm.

"Gavrilo doesn't think I know, but there are still a few here that are loyal to me. I sent him a message ordering him to stop the attack, but he wouldn't even speak to me. Now you've come! Tell me. Is it true about the bells? Is this cane that your father brought really Matilde's daughter under some kind of enchantment?"

"You're going to listen to HER?" a voice thundered at the doorway. It was Gavrilo. He wasn't bent over his cane as he usually was. He was standing tall with the cane grasped in his hand like a weapon. "This is the daughter of the Evil Queen! She's obviously been keeping her own magic powers hidden, waiting till now to move against us."

"Pish tosh!" Rapunzel said.

"How did she get here, then? She doesn't hold any magic talisman that can be used with traveling dust, such as her father had. She must have traveled by magic mirror, like her mother!"

"Actually," Virginia said, "I didn't come by mirror or by traveling dust."

Someone in the back of the room gasped.

It was unheard of. Even magic folk needed such things to travel great distances. They could go a short way under their own power, or zap someone else to a position close by as Amaranth had done to Virginia a little while ago, or they could pool their magical resources like Mazarin's followers had to get Mazarin back. But it was unheard of for anyone to have the power to travel a great distance completely on their own.

"I had other magic help," Virginia said. And once again she pulled up her skirts.

The slippers sparkled on cue and a series of murmurs went up around the room.

"Cindy's slippers," Rapunzel said. "I see. Since she's under the curse, they're free to go to another owner."

"This witch obviously obtained them through dark magic," Gavrilo said. "Probably with the help of Mazarin himself!"

"Not possible," Rapunzel said. "From what I remember, those were a special gift of Sabirah's crystal ball. Sabirah was Matilde's mother and Cindy's fairy godmother. She told Cindy the slippers contained part of the ball's living crystal. They're tied to one owner at a time, but they get to choose who that owner is. They do what they want and go where they want. Mazarin doesn't have enough magic to subvert that ancient crystal ball. If they've made their way to Virginia, it's because they've decided she's worthy."

At that, the murmurs from the other people in the room got louder.

Gavrilo had to think fast. He knew he couldn't drown out the word of both Rapunzel and someone wearing Cinderella's slippers. The news of this conversation would slip out of the castle one way or another and interfere with his plans. He'd actually believed Tony and Raphaela's message about the bells. In fact, he'd already gotten a bell for himself and was wearing it under his loose fitting clothing. He just wanted the rest of the Fifth Kingdom to fall under the curse. It would make it easier for the satyrs and hsigos to over-run the place and take it for themselves. But once again he would have to change his plans. "Fine. I will give the word. We will tell everyone about the bells, on the word of Queen Rapunzel. However, if you're on our side, as you say, PRINCESS Virginia…" He spit out the word princess as if it were a horrible obscenity. "…Then why do you not bring us the cure for this. These bells will only prolong our agony and perhaps turn our people against each other. Surely you know we don't have enough bells to go around. And it's not likely that we can make enough to stop all of our populace and their livestock from falling asleep. This sounds like more trickery…wolfish trickery. Our gracious Rapunzel may trust you, but I do not." Gavrilo turned to Sergeant Tarquin, who was standing just behind him. "Spread the word as Queen Rapunzel commands. Also, call for the blacksmiths to make more bells. Pass them out as far as you can."

"Yes, your Majesty," Tarquin said, giving Gavrilo a quick bow.

"Why is he calling you 'Majesty?'" Rapunzel demanded. "You aren't king here. My son is!"

"True. But your son is incapacitated. I am now the acting king of the Fifth Kingdom. We must protect ourselves and take care of our own. Tarquin, come with me." Gavrilo turned and shuffled away with the Sergeant in tow.

"Then he's still going to launch an attack on Wendell's castle?" Virginia asked.

"I think he's done it already." Rapunzel said. "I never really paid much attention to Gavrilo. Now I wish I had."

"How is your son?"

"Oh, not good. Come. He's this way."

Rapunzel floated to a doorway at the back of the room and Virginia followed. This led to a hallway with stained glass windows. Cole's bedroom was at the end of it, sumptuously decorated in light blue. The king was laid out in a huge bed between an ornate pair of brass lanterns. His hair was neatly combed and his beard perfectly clipped. He was wearing a simple cotton nightshirt.

"You can barely see him breathing," Rapunzel said with a sigh as she settled down on one side of the bed. "His beautiful coloring is gone too. They say if the curse isn't broken soon, the weakest among us will die first."

Considering Cole's size, Virginia doubted he'd be one of the first to go. Still, he didn't look at all like his usual jolly self.

"Is that enchanted cane your father came with really Matilde's daughter?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes. She is. She's somewhere in the neighborhood of five hundred years old. That's how she knew about the bells. Unfortunately, she's not strong enough to undo the curse by herself."

"I wonder where Snow White is. They must have done something to her or she would certainly be here trying to help."

"It's been a long time since anyone has heard from her."

"Of course, they couldn't kill her, since she's already dead. But they must have done something to bind her to her tomb. If we had her and Matilde's daughter, we would only need one more powerful being to start breaking the spell. Isn't that what Mazarin said?"

- - - - - - - - - -

In actuality, Snow White had started to break out of Mazarin's spell as soon as the troll's augmented dust hit Hercules, Elissa, and Nester. Without them constantly renewing the spell, the strands of magic that bound her started to stretch and break. She thought she would be entirely free of their magic by the next dawn.

Snow felt as if she were slowly awakening from the same kind of sleep her stepmother had put her under so long ago. But this time, her handsome future husband wasn't there looking down on her. For the millionth time since his passing, she missed him. What would he say to her now? About her hanging around for so long after her death, sheparding not only the people of their kingdom, but of all the others too? He would probably say that she was too devoted to her work. He'd often chided her for that. But she had seen their hard won Happily Ever After start to fade away and she hadn't been able to let go of things.

First there were the deaths of Gretel and Red Riding Hood. And then there was the sorrow of watching their kingdoms fall into the hands of unworthy leaders. Then Rapunzel died…sort of. And she became a ghost who was even more obsessed with her son than she had been before her death. As for Cinderella, she had gotten lost in a continual search for magic that would allow her to retain her good looks. Everything the five of them had worked so hard for was in danger of slipping away. Snow White couldn't allow that. Not now, not when they were so close to bringing it all back.

Of the five women who changed history, each had always had a specialty that helped their work move forward.

Snow had been the one with magic.

Red Riding Hood had been the one with the greatest intelligence.

Gretel had been the dashing one, who could lead armies into battle.

Cinderella had been the one with the charisma.

And Rapunzel had been the outspoken mother figure, who pushed them all forward.

In the present day world, Snow was hopeful that the talents of each of them could somehow live in the spirits of those leading now. Snow hoped Virginia would replace her within the kingdoms. Even if she didn't have magic, Virginia had a knack for handling it. Red Riding Hood the Third was becoming a wiser and more giving monarch. The brave heart that had once been Gretel's seemed to live in Rose. Cinderella was more active than she'd been in a hundred years and would hopefully in time choose her own successor. And Matilde's sharp tongue could easily match Rapunzel's.

All Snow had to do was defeat Mazarin and put the Nine Kingdoms back in order. But how was she going to do that?


	27. Chapter 27 Hidden Allies

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

**Hidden Allies**

A short time after Virginia left Wendell's castle, Victor arrived, riding at the head of his Fifth Kingdom troops. His intention had been to storm the front of the castle without warning, but several of Camus's followers in the woods had scented the crowd on the march and deduced that it was some kind of army. They alerted Rose and she was able to meet them at the fountain in front of the castle with a small retinue of her own soldiers, standing at the ready with swords and arrows.

Victor was taken aback at the loss of surprise, but he recovered quickly. He gestured for his troops to follow him forward. "I have been sent by Duke Barron Dragon-Slayer," he announced loudly. "He knows that you are working with Mazarin the Evil Wizard. Because of that, you have forfeited your position as heir to the throne. He commands that you quit the castle at once, turning it over to him and the armies of the Fifth Kingdom who have joined in this righteous crusade."

"Tell him to go suck an ogre!" Rose said. "There's nothing righteous about this."

"Turn over the antidote to this curse and we may let you live!"

"I don't have any antidote. If I did I would use it to awaken my husband."

"We know that's not true. You want King Wendell under this spell so you can take over his kingdom."

There was no point in arguing with this bunch of fools. "Ready!" Rose commanded. And her troops parted to reveal Lord Rupert with one of the cannons they had used in The Giant War. "If you don't leave at once I will have him fire the cannon at you."

Victor had never seen a cannon before, but he'd heard about them. His army was presently bunched up into a tight group behind him. A cannonball fired into their midst, would do damage to his forces very quickly. It was best to act as if he was backing down. "Retreat!" he called loudly. And his troops headed at once for the woods. As soon as they reached cover, they began firing arrows. Rose's troops hit the ground. Groups of full-blooded wolves, carrying metal shields in their mouths, moved into position in front of those shooting arrows, thus giving them cover in the open field.

When Tony returned with Raphaela from the Ninth Kingdom they found the battle still raging on. They hadn't been able to get through to the sleeping Matilde because there was a magic barrier around Snoring Castle. Raphaela didn't have the kind of magic needed to break through it. Tony was filled with grief and anger. A war was just the thing to work out his frustrations. He decided to move out several more cannons and station them around the full perimeter of the castle.

Wolf had been inside, looking after his son and waiting for Raphaela's return. While Tony pulled out the rest of the cannons, Wolf handed Anthony over to Herbert and went looking for his sister in the battle.

Rose was near the front of the castle behind two large metal shields held up by two full blooded wolves. Timka and a human marksman were on either side of her, busily using their crossbows to keep Victor's men in the woods.

Wolf crouched down by his sister. "Tony's back," Wolf told her.

An explosion sounded from the back of the castle near the stables.

"So I hear," Rose said, shooting off another arrow.

"I've got to go to the Second Kingdom."

Rose nodded. "You should take Anthony. He'll be safer there."

"I was planning to. Herbert says he'll tell Virginia to look for us at Red's castle."

"You're leaving?" Timka shouted, lowering his crossbow. "While the castle is under siege? While a foreign army is trying to destroy our people?"

"You and Rose can handle this. I have other duties."

"Other duties? More important than this? Camus was right about you!"

One of the two full-blooded wolves holding up the shields in front of them happened to be a follower of Camus. He was helping Rose because he thought it was in the interest of the wolves to keep Barron from claiming the Fourth Kingdom. Like Camus, he wanted a special Wolf Kingdom. The fact that Timka believed this too was very interesting to him. He knew Camus would be interested as well.

"Camus again!" Wolf growled. "Don't you see that I have to go? If the people of the Second Kingdom don't find out about the magic of the bells soon, many more of them will fall under the curse. Do you want that on your conscience? A wolf's gotta do what a wolf's gotta do!"

"Your place is with your pack, defending your people."

"Timka!" Rose broke in. "You're not shooting!"

"Cripes, I don't have time for this," Wolf said. "I'll get back if I can." And with that, he turned and scampered back to the castle on all fours, without looking back at his nephew.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Wolf arrived at the castle of Queen Red Riding Hood the Third with Raphaela, the Chancellor almost fell at his feet with relief. The Chancellor was a much older man who had served Red and the kingdom for longer than he could remember. When the queen had been more egocentric, he'd been especially good at both cajoling her and overseeing the running of the kingdom. But that was before The Giant War. The imprisonment, beatings, and starvation he'd suffered under the trolls had taken much out of him. He now felt old and unable to meet this new challenge. He'd sent out some soldiers to keep order and help with the moving of slumbering livestock, but he was far too fatigued to think of doing anything else. When Wolf arrived, he felt as if he'd been plucked from a whirlpool.

"Thank goodness you're here, Prince Wolf!" the Chancellor said. "Your timing is impeccable and you are indeed like a prayer answered."

"I've got news," Wolf said. "Wearing bells stops the curse. It can't cure it, but it will stop it from taking new victims."

"That is indeed good news!" the Chancellor said, the deep wrinkles on his face shifting into a tired smile. "I will send out word at once!"

"Good. I need to go on an errand. Will you have someone watch my little cub while I'm gone?"

"It will be an honor. I take it that means you'll be staying with us? We are in such desperate need of your leadership right now."

"Well…I'm coming back, but I don't think I'll be staying. You see, I'm hoping Maria Thompson will agree to keep an eye on things here. The Fourth Kingdom is under siege from the Fifth and I need to get back if I can."

"I understand. Please bring Miss Thompson back soon."

"Yes. I'll just have her pack a few bags and we'll be back before you know it."

Wolf passed his son to the older man and sprinkled himself with traveling dust. It sparkled in the air for a moment and then he and Raphaela disappeared.

Maria Thompson lived in a very desolate part of the forest, well north of Red Riding Hood's castle. She had a small farm, grew crops of mostly cool weather vegetables, and kept a few livestock. So Wolf expected to smell animals, but there was one scent he hadn't expected.

"Cripes! I smell bear," Wolf whispered to Raphaela. "It's all around the house and in the yard. Everything reeks of it! I don't know if that means danger or what."

Raphaela pulled out of Wolf's hand and appeared in her visual form. "Do you think it's been stalking her?"

"I don't know. The scent is very strong. And it's both old and fresh at the same time. That means it probably lives here."

"Does she keep it as a pet?"

"She didn't mention it during the one time I met her. She kept saying that she lived out here alone with a couple of horses and goats."

Raphaela floated into the trees to get a look from above. "The fields seem well tended," she called down. "Everything appears in order. Do you smell Maria as well?"

"Yes. A human female lives here. But I didn't spend enough time with Maria for my nose to memorize her scent."

"Let's go find out what's going on," Raphaela said as she floated back down. By the time she reached Wolf again, her visual form had faded away and she looked like an ordinary cane. Wolf held out his hand and she floated into it.

"I don't think she's inside," Wolf said as they got closer to the cottage. "I think she's around back. So is the bear and a lot of other animals."

Wolf caught sight of Maria Thompson and her furry friend as soon he rounded the house. Maria was somewhere in mid-life. Her brownish/reddish hair was touched by gray and her figure was no longer lithe. She was coming out of the barn, followed by a huge black bear.

"That's the best we can do," Maria said, to the bear. "At least he'll be out of the cold and rain now."

The bear grunted.

"What will become of this curse?" she asked, leaning against the large creature's back, as if seeking his strength.

The bear tried to comfort her by rubbing his head against her skirts.

Wolf stood watching. It looked like such an intimate scene, he wasn't sure how to interrupt it.

Suddenly, the bear picked up Wolf's scent. It had been too preoccupied with Maria to notice it before then. It gave a loud growl and moved very quickly in Wolf's direction, its teeth bared.

Wolf held out his hands. "Please, no! I come in peace!"

But the bear kept on coming.

Raphaela flew out of Wolf's hand and charged. She hit the bear solidly over the head to get his attention. Then she pushed him back and knocked him to the ground.

"No! Stop!" Maria yelled running forward. "He doesn't mean any harm. Daylon, this is Prince Wolf!"

Raphaela stopped her assault, but continued floating above the bear in a threatening manner. Daylon the bear looked up at her and growled.

"I'm so sorry, Cousin Wolf," Maria said. "You must forgive Daylon. He's a bit protective."

"You have a pet bear?" Wolf asked, sniffing in Daylon's direction.

"We've been together a long time. I couldn't run this place without him."

"I see, "Wolf said. Even though he didn't. It made sense for a woman living alone in the forest to want protection. But most women like that kept dogs. "We've got news."

"We?"

"Oh, allow me to introduce my step-sister-in-law. This is Princess Raphaela, of the Eighth Kingdom."

It was Maria's turn to look perplexed. The cane that had just attacked Daylon was now turning from him and positioning itself in a sort of bow. "How…do you do?" Maria said.

"She's under an enchantment."

"So I see. Won't you both come in? We can sit down and you can tell me your news."

Maria led the way into the house and Daylon stayed where he was near the barn.

"Can I get you some tea?" Maria asked.

"No," Wolf said. "We've got to be leaving soon. You too."

"Me? Why should I be leaving?"

"Because, well…Good news first. We've found out that wearing bells can stop the curse. They can't cure it, but it can keep people from getting it."

"Oh. That explains why none of my goats have fallen under it. They're all wearing bells. Daylon and I found one of my horses asleep in the yard this morning. We put him in the barn just before you came. We made him as comfortable as we could, but of course he'll be better after the curse is lifted. Do you have any idea how to bring him out of it?"

"Not yet, but we're working on it. Anyway, things are kind of out of control in the Second Kingdom and…" Wolf stopped in mid-sentience, suddenly aware of some interesting scents coming from the one bedroom. "Are you married?"

"Me?" Maria flushed. "No. Of course not. I told you that when we were introduced, Cousin Wolf."

"Then you must have a boyfriend. I smell the scent of a human male and..." Wolf fumbled around for words because he didn't want to be indelicate. "…It's very strong."

"That's silly," Maria insisted, flushing further. "You sure you don't want that tea?"

Wolf looked at her strangely, the crease between his eyebrows getting deeper. He walked toward the bedroom like a bloodhound on the trail of an important scent. His eyes sparkled yellow as he turned back to Maria. "There's the scent of human male in your bedroom…as well as the scent of Daylon. I can smell both of them out here in the kitchen too."

"Well, Daylon helps me carry in things sometimes, like firewood and…"

"Goodness gracious me!" Wolf said excitedly, "I never thought I'd meet one. Daylon isn't a real bear, is he?"

"What?"

"He's an enchanted bear…a bear by day, and a man by night!"

The blush that had been in Maria's face abruptly drained away till she became as pale as the trunks of the white birches outside her door. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Cousin! Don't you realize how exciting this is? A real magic bear! I was brought up on stories about them."

"Yes, but I'd prefer to keep it secret."

"Why?"

"You've seen how difficult it's been for everyone to accept wolves. And it's hard to tell Daylon's kind apart from ordinary bears during the daytime. There aren't a lot of them either."

"I know that. That's why you can't keep it a secret. They're so special!"

"It also makes them more vulnerable. Maybe…after things calm down. If your people gain respect, than maybe they'd accept Daylon too. I'm just worried people won't accept us…as a couple."

Wolf nodded gravely. He should have realized. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd had to re-witness the burning of his parents. And during the end of his honeymoon, he'd seen the disgust on the faces of the people of the Fifth Kingdom as they'd called him and Virginia names. "I understand. I was going to ask if you'd go to Red's castle and run things while I went back to the Fourth Kingdom. But I see now that isn't possible. You can't move Daylon into Red's castle. Not with the way things are now, with all the panic. And it's not a good time for you to be apart. I don't know what I'd do without Virginia right now."

"You see why I didn't want that royal title. I knew if people started calling me princess, there would be office seekers and all kinds of hangers-on coming out here."

"Huff-puff, you're certainly right about that!" Wolf growled. "Some days it's all I can do to get past them to go to breakfast. I better get back to Red's castle now. I left my cub there."

"Thank you for understanding, Cousin Wolf."

When they left Maria's cottage, Daylon was waiting outside.

"Daylon," Wolf said, walking up to the great beast. "I know what you are. You can't put anything past a wolf's nose. My foster parents taught me an old nursery rhyme about your people and mine.

"Wolves and bears were closer then," Wolf sang softly.

"They called each other brother, friend.

One chose to go, the other stay.

Reunited they will fight one day."

Daylon dipped down in a bow of acknowledgement. He had heard the rhyme as well.

"We're grateful to you, Cousin Wolf," Maria said, taking her place at Daylon's side. "If you need anything, just let us know."

"I will," Wolf said. But of course he had no intention of doing so. They had a nice world here. It was something he wished he and Virginia could have. But destiny always seemed to have other plans. "Raphaela?" Wolf said, reaching out his hand. She flew it and he sprinkled them both with traveling dust.

"Maria can't come," Wolf told the expectant Chancellor with a sigh when he got back to Red's castle. "So I guess I have to stay instead."

"Prince Wolf, that is wonderful!" the Chancellor said. He had heard so many good things about Wolf from Queen Red, he much preferred having him take over the throne than Maria Thompson. Nobody knew anything about her. The Chancellor believed in that old saying about how you're better off with the devil you know. He had no doubt that some people would resent having a wolf step in as ruler. But there wouldn't be any real trouble over it. People were too weary from The Giant War and this new curse. "It will all go quite easy. You'll see. The Fourth Kingdom might be under siege, but our people are remaining quite calm." Exhausted was really a better word.

"So, I guess the first thing I should do is look in on Queen Red and Anthony."

"My wife is watching the little prince in our rooms. But I will see that he's given a proper nursery. As for the queen, she's still in her chambers. We thought it best to leave her there."

Red Riding Hood the Third's bed chamber was made up of a dressing area with an enormous dressing table and an immense room beyond, all done up in red and black. The strong colors around her made Red look unusually pale as she lay cursed in her bed. Her freckles were almost invisible and her face was full of worry.

"I wonder if she can dream?" Wolf asked out loud.

"I don't know," the Chancellor said. "But if she can, it certainly looks as if her dreams are unpleasant."

Wolf's sensitive ears picked up a sniffle, as if his companion were trying to hold back tears. He patted the Chancellor comfortingly on the shoulder. "Don't cry. I'm sure she'll be all right."

The Chancellor nodded gravely. He wasn't crying, but he assumed Wolf was, because he had also heard the sniffle.

It was at this point that Virginia appeared. "Wolf!" she called, almost knocking him over with the intensity of her embrace.

"Shhhh," Wolf cautioned. "Cousin Red is sleeping." He turned to the Chancellor. "She doesn't mean any disrespect. She's just such a quirky girl."

Virginia's expression changed from joy to sadness as she saw Queen Red laid out on the bed. Red looked so much more vulnerable than King Cole, even though it was obvious that she'd been positioned with great loving care. Her red hair had been combed and spread over the pillows around her head. And the covers over the lower part of her body were folded back and smoothed perfectly with her hands resting on top, one over the other. Around her neck was a large pendant with a beautiful red stone in it. She looked like a picture in a fairy tale book. Sleeping Beauty couldn't have outdone her. Virginia picked up Red's right hand and squeezed it in both of her own, as if willing her to get up. "I wish there was something we could do," she whispered.

"Well, actually we're going to do more than you think," Wolf said sheepishly."

"What?"

Wolf pulled his wife away from the queen, forcing her to put down the sleeping woman's hand away from her body. The Chancellor followed them as they stepped into the dressing room area.

"Maria Thompson won't be able to sit in for Red. So I'm afraid I have to," Wolf said.

"We're so grateful!" the Chancellor effused. From the look on Virginia's face, he was afraid she might object to Wolf staying, so he had slipped into the cajoling voice he'd used on Queen Red for so many years. "It means so much to us to have Prince Wolf here. I haven't told anyone yet. So I must go at once! Prince Anthony will need a nursery. And you of course need a suitable bedchamber for yourselves. I have so much to do!" And he was off.

"Virginia, I've got to do this," Wolf said. "Maria has a secret that I need to protect."

"What kind of secret?"

Wolf looked around nervously. "I'll tell you later when I'm sure we're alone."

Virginia looked at him strangely. "I really don't think Cousin Red will say anything."

"It's not her. I just have this feeling we're being watched."

"I don't like your staying here, but at least Anthony will be safer."

"Is the battle still going on at Wendell's?"

"Yeah. I felt bad leaving them. Evidently the guy who's in charge of the Fifth Kingdom now is a big time wolf-hater. He wasn't going to spread the word on the bells, but Cinderella's slippers took me to Rapunzel and she insisted."

"You met Rapunzel!! How exciting! What's she like?"

"A little overbearing, but nice."

"How are the slippers working out?" Wolf tugged his wife's skirts aside so he could get a better look at them.

"They seem to have a kind of second sight. And they have a mind of their own. If they don't like where I want to go, they just take me somewhere else."

"Like where?"

"Like to Rapunzel. And on a fruitless trip to Leaf Fall's younger daughter. The older daughter says she doesn't think the elves need a kingdom. And the younger one seems to be afraid of the job. Either way, I feel like I've let Leaf down."

"Oh, no! You did your best and that's all anyone can do. At least, that's what I'm hoping everyone will say when I fail at being the stand-in king."

"You'll be fine," Virginia said, patting her husband's chest. "Now, come on. I want to see Anthony. Did you bring any of his things?"

"No. I left in such a hurry. We'll have to have the Chancellor get him some diapers and stuff." Wolf turned and led the way out the door. "And then I need to send Raphaela back to the Fourth Kingdom. They're going to need her."

Virginia paused for a moment to look back at Queen Red. Strange. Her hands were folded neatly again. Virginia didn't remember doing that.

- - - - - - - - - -

Back at Wendell's castle, the fighting was still going on, even though the sky was darkening. It was a stand-off. Rose's army was smaller, but they had a castle with a ring of cannons around it. Victor's army hadn't been able to move far from the woods all day.

Victor was a very active general, even though he didn't fight alongside his men as Rose did. He moved among them, disbursing ammunition and encouragement. He only left the field of battle once when he saw an hsigo flying overhead. It came with two others of its kind. They had a delivery of bells for him and a note from Gavrilo. The note said that anyone wearing a bell would be saved from the curse.

When Victor passed the bells out to his men, he explained what they were for and said they were a gift from Gavrilo, sent by special messenger. "Gavrilo caught one of Mazarin's wolves," he said, repeating the cover story that Gavrilo had given him. "They tortured him until he divulged this secret."

The men of the Fifth Kingdom accepted this without question because it fit in so well with their prejudices.

When the sun disappeared from the sky, Victor gathered up Barron and Felicity and led the way toward the front lines, holding a white flag so they could speak to Rose.

Rose thought Barron was going to call an end to it. She ordered her people to stop firing. Then she called for a white flag and walked to the head of her troops with her nephew Timka on one side and Lord Rupert on the other. "What do you want?" She asked gruffly. Rose was without arms, as a truce demanded, but her stance was strong and her green eyes flashed as if they were willing to fight forever.

Barron was back to his usual cocky self. Sitting at the rear of an army that was fighting and dying to make him king had made him feel invincible again. He was so lost in his delusion, that he half expected Rose to bow down to him. Victor and Felicity were not so foolish. They stood at his side, acting more confident than they felt.

"So, do you surrender?" Barron asked, throwing back his black cape in triumph.

Rose sputtered. "You…you are the one who called the truce, not me. I was hoping you were ready to put aside this foolishness. I am not going to surrender the kingdom to you."

"We've got you surrounded. Sooner or later you'll be needing supplies and we won't allow any in."

"We'll burn you out," Victor said, trying to make things sound more dangerous. He knew this standoff could only go on for so long. They might be able to starve Rose and her court out if they waited long enough. But he also knew Rose had an army larger than the one she'd been using. Wherever her other troops were, they might return soon and turn the battle in her favor. And she wasn't the only one with a limited number of supplies. Also, the soldiers of the Fifth Kingdom would soon want to return to their families to see how the curse was affecting them. This battle had to be shortened.

"How could you burn my castle?" Rose said, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "We have a ring of troops guarding it with cannon and crossbow. We've managed to hold you back all day."

"I'm sure we can find a way in."

"You can't sneak past my wolf troops. They can see better in the dark than a human. And after fighting next to their comrades all day, they will have no difficulty picking up the scent of an outsider."

"I think you might be surprised."

"Fine. Then I will begin using this." Rose waved Lord Rupert forward. He was holding an unloaded crossbow.

Victor laughed. "And this is supposed to frighten me?"

"You don't recognize it? This is the enchanted crossbow that the Evil Queen gave her Huntsman. It's the weapon that allowed him to maintain control of the Disenchanted Forest, over such creatures as the satyrs and hsigos. It cannot miss. Once a bolt is shot out of it, it will take down whatever living target is in its path. My nephew tells me the Huntsman sometimes used it to wipe out whole caravans of gypsies for poaching…including children."

Victor wasn't impressed. "It was probably no more than those gypsies deserved," he said snidely.

Timka's eyes narrowed. He had stopped thinking of himself as a gypsy lately, but this comment made him angry.

Rose didn't rise to the taunt. "The point is…it can wipe out large groups of people, whether they are armed or not. Darkness won't inhibit it. The hand that shoots it doesn't have to be steady. The bolt will find its target."

"You're not scaring me," Victor said. And indeed she wasn't. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that some of his men had stepped back and Barron Dragon-Slayer had moved with them. Victor didn't understand what their problem was, but he knew he had to get them away. "All you've done is convince me of your evil intentions. There can obviously be no truce between us." He turned to his men. "Come!" he commanded.

The group behind Victor snapped to and followed him back to the woods. Barron hesitated for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but Felicity tugged him off.

"They're mad," Rose said.

"Are we going to do what you said?" Timka asked. "I mean, chase them down with the Huntsman's crossbow?"

"Not unless we have to. That thing has been used for so much evil, its magic may be cursed. Right now I think they're just as tired as we are. They probably didn't sleep last night. They've obviously heard about the bells, since they were all wearing one. So they'll probably want to take a few hours off from fighting to sleep. We should too. The wolf troops can take the bulk of the overnight watch, dividing into two groups and taking turns. They're short on sleep too, but wolves have more energy at this time of the month. Come morning the wolves will move to the rear and the humans will take charge. If our enemies continue this into tomorrow night, we will cleanse them from our woods in any way necessary. Now, I need to look in on the King."

"Lord Lewis and I will stay by our cannons and keep watch with the wolf troops," Rupert offered. "I'll go and check with him, but I know Tony doesn't want to go up to his room. You know…without Queen Matilde. During the last war, we napped at our posts. We can do it again."

"As you wish," Rose said. "But get some rest. We'll need you ready at your cannons at first light.

"I'll stay with them," Timka said. "I'll make sure they rest."

"And what of the crossbow?" Rupert asked.

"Give it to one of the part-wolves," Rose said. "One who has good night vision and a keen sense of smell. Just in case this magic spy of theirs tries to break through our lines." And with that, Rose turned and walked into the castle.

Everything was so quiet. Even the mice were still. It felt as if the whole castle were listening and waiting for something. Or maybe it was the gremlins that had given Tony trouble when he'd first put in the heating system. Rose felt as if she were listening too. But in her case, she was waiting for Wendell's voice. Or his presence. She kept hoping to meet him at every turn of the corridor.

When she came to their room, the two guards sitting outside the door jumped to their feet.

"Your Majesty!" one of them said.

"If anything should happen," Rose said, "don't hesitate to call me."

"Yes, your Majesty."

Rose opened the door to the room cautiously, as if afraid of waking Wendell. If only she could. Herbert had lighted the candles as usual, but instead of feeling warm and welcoming, the room felt more like a shrine of some kind. Or maybe a tomb. But Rose didn't want to think about that.

Herbert had been taking care of Wendell, changing his clothes and keeping him shaved. Rose knew when he woke up that Wendell would want to look like a proper king. Propriety had always been more important to him than to her. Probably because she'd spent so much time living in the woods on her own and traveling around, with only a handful of possessions. Wendell had always had Lord Rupert and a flock of couturiers to keep him looking perfect. Poor Rupert. Rose considered herself to be his only failure. He'd even gotten Virginia used to the idea of wearing full length gowns.

Carefully Rose climbed into bed and draped herself over her husband. Her sharp wolf senses made his breathing and heart beat sound louder than it would have to an ordinary human. They comforted her.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to take care of you myself," she whispered softly. "We're under attack. Your cousin joined with some men from the Fifth Kingdom. We might have been overrun if a group of wolves in the woods hadn't picked up the scent of the approaching army and Rupert hadn't thought of using the cannons. Those things gave us the advantage we needed to keep them out. Even after a full day of fighting, the castle is still secure, although the fountain in the front entryway is a little worse for wear. A cannon ball hit it accidentally.

"The enemy is as tired as we are at this point. I can smell the exhaustion in their sweat and hear it in the rasp of their breathing. You should be proud of me, though. Barron's general works very hard to try and get me to lose my temper, but so far he hasn't succeeded. I know I need that anger to give me strength.

"I miss you so much." She ran her fingers gently across his lips, wishing she could move them into that boyish pout that he sometimes had.

"I don't think it will happen, but if the castle falls, I've arranged for you to be taken to the First Kingdom. I'm sure the Prime Minister there will look after you. If anything happens to me, I expect you to watch out for Wolf and Virginia and my two nephews. Speaking of my nephew….there's one good thing that's come from all this. Timka actually fought by my side today. Can you believe it? I can see he still thinks it's strange for a woman to be a soldier, but he took orders from me anyway. And he's very good with a crossbow. He even volunteered to watch over Tony and Rupert tonight. Can you imagine?" Tears began to sneak into her eyes. She tried to sniff them back as she snuggled closer to her husband, but they drifted out anyway and made hot tracks down her cheeks.

- - - - - - - - - -

"What were you doing back there?" Victor demanded. He was talking to Barron and the soldiers who'd come with him under the flag of truce. "When you face down an enemy, you must never flinch. You flinched!"

"It was the Huntsman's crossbow," Barron said. "I've heard many stories about it. That she-wolf really could use it to wipe us all out."

"Spoken with the bravery of a true king," Victor said derisively.

"Beg pardon, Sir," one of the soldiers said. "But I fought in The Giant War with those wolves. I've seen them fight at night. You don't want to tangle with them then. They can see much better in the dark than we can. And they can smell whatever they can't see. When the full moon hits, they become mad with bloodlust."

"See...," Barron said, pointing at the soldier. "He knows. Perhaps this isn't the right time to do this. Perhaps if we wait until we can get more soldiers…"

"There aren't any more soldiers!" Victor shouted. "These are all that Gavrilo could spare. He has to maintain the Fifth Kingdom as well. Or have you forgotten that? Children! That's what you are! You're afraid of fables and stupid animals. Well, YOU may be afraid, but I'm not. I have a way to destroy that castle and I intend to use it before the night's out!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Raphaela returned about an hour after Rose had gone into her room. Wolf had sprinkled traveling dust over her and she had guided herself home. Home. Wendell's castle was beginning to feel like that now. She had more of a family now than she'd ever had before. And best of all, she wasn't a secret anymore. When she floated out of the castle into the quiet field of battle, those who saw her barely glanced at her. They knew who she was.

She was looking for Tony. When she'd left, he'd been setting up cannons. Most of their operators were napping now, but a few were watching the woods. Tony was sitting behind a barricade between his workshop and the main stables, wide awake.

Raphaela stopped and took on her visual form. "How's it going?" she asked.

"Not good," Tony said. "Rupert tells me they asked Rose to surrender sometime after sundown and she refused. They're not firing anymore. But they're out there. They're not giving up. It sounds like Rose may be planning a major offensive tomorrow evening if nothing breaks before then."

"I wish there was something I could do. What we need is a good magic barrier. I wish my talents ran in that area."

"No one can do everything. You shouldn't blame yourself for not being able to get through to your mother. Mazarin probably put up that magic barrier because he was afraid the younger fairies might figure out a way to wake some of them up. If not for you, a lot of people would be falling asleep tonight and maybe never wake up again. You've done a lot of good with your magic. I don't know what Virginia would have done without your help. And I'm sure you've done a lot more over the five hundred years since your birth…or rather, your death. Look, I'm not good at the encouragement thing. Virginia would tell you that if she was here. But you shouldn't go kicking yourself because you can't do everything. No one can. As your mother once quipped to me, she's a fairy, not God. The same goes for you."

Raphaela smiled fondly. "Thank you."

"So…get to it. The Royal Physician has a lot of casualties. I'm sure he'd welcome your help."

"All right." Raphaela started to fade back into the cane.

"But wait! First tell me how Virginia and Wolf, and the baby are."

"They're fine. They're staying in the Second Kingdom. Wolf wasn't able to get Maria Thompson to step in as monarch."

"Yeah, well, I didn't expect him to. Anybody interested in being queen doesn't turn down a title. I don't know what's up with her, but I figure she wants the job even less than Wolf does. And that's saying something."

From the other side of the castle there was a warning wolf howl. The wolves stationed near Tony returned the howl and ran in the direction of the first call. Tony and Raphaela took off after them, Raphaela disappearing back into the cane as she went. There was a group clustered near the ruined fountain.

"What is it?" Tony demanded, pushing his way into the center.

"An hsigo," Rupert answered.

"A what?" Tony looked down and saw the body of a creature that to him looked like a winged monkey from the movie "The Wizard of Oz." "What happened?"

"I saw him flying overhead," a part-wolf said. "Queen Rose said we should keep watch for an intruder and use the Huntsman's crossbow if we had to. This one was carrying something and he seemed to be looking for an open window in the castle. I howled, but he didn't stop. So I shot him."

"The Huntsman's bow never misses," Timka said.

"He dropped this as he fell," a human soldier said, holding up a broken torch. "It wasn't lit, but I assume he was intending to do that after he got inside."

"Barron's henchman said they would burn us out."

"Barron is in league with the hsigos?" Lord Rupert gasped.

"I've never heard of anyone working with them," Timka said, "except for the satyrs. There's some kind of weird tie between them. There are stories about a few gypsies trying to talk the satyrs and hsigos into an alliance against the Huntsman and they ended up dead for it. I don't think they work with any but their own kind."

"My grandmother fought them back at one point," Raphaela said. Her visible form shimmered forward over the fallen winged monkey. "Do you think they're using the curse as an opportunity to rise up again."

"Why not?" Tony said. "Barron von Role-Player seems to be doing it." Tony bent down and picked up the bell around the hsigo's neck. "They also seem to know about this."


	28. Chapter 28 Ungrateful Peasants

- 155 -

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

**Ungrateful Peasants**

The electricity had been off more than on during that night in the new 10th Kingdom. But by morning it came on and stayed on. Kai knew it was because of the constant chanting of his little group. They had weakened the magic barrier around the island just enough to allow for the somewhat regular transference of electricity. The water was working as well. Cell phones were still out, but landline phones still operated if they weren't overloaded. Kai had a feeling they'd come back completely if he interfered with the magic signal of Mazarin's group enough.

Nyota, his lead witch, was very tired because she'd led the spell casting most of the night. By dawn, however, the Murrays had been able to locate several more of Kai's circle of witches and Nyota was able to take a good long nap in Tony's bedroom. At first Mr. Murray had been upset about someone else using the Master's room. But Kai had explained that the Master would want someone working so hard for him to get the rest she needed. Virginia's grandmother had set up housekeeping in Virginia's room with her dog Roland, but every now and again she came out into the livingroom complaining that her soaps still weren't on.

Virginia's grandmother wasn't alone in her complaints about Mazarin. After his announcement the day before, a lot of people had gone into shock. Some had left their homes and offices to see for themselves what was happening. The ones who lived in New Jersey or in one of the other boroughs tried in vain to get home. Many had to spend the night on the street. But by daybreak, the power was back on for the most part and a strange kind of order returned to the city. With it, there was a build up of energy among New York's inhabitants. Kai's part-animal instincts could sense it better than most. New Yorkers are fabled for handling crisis well, for pulling together when it's necessary. And they didn't take kindly to being imprisoned or having to do anything against their will.

There was some semblance of normality. A lot of buildings that had shut down fearfully overnight were opening up like usual, giving their out-of-town employees a place to stay. People who lived in the city were coming in to work too, hoping to find some kind of consistency in the crazy world and to decide on some sort of action.

People wondered who and what this guy Mazarin was. It seemed crazy. A mountain where the Empire State Building used to be? A giant walking up and down the East River? No television or radio or cell phones? The Chrysler Building had been taken over too and was now a private residence for several of Mazarin's followers. They called it the Silver Wand Castle. Several of the policemen and policewomen who'd lost their memories the day before had been taken there as servants. The followers of Mazarin that were needed to hold the magic at the perimeter were staying in homes or buildings in that area, surrounded by small force fields, so they couldn't be attacked by any of the populace's modern weapons.

People had noticed the helicopters and other aircraft hovering over the city and those who managed to get through to the outside world by land phone lines let it be known that it was mostly the U.S. Military looking for an opening in the "force field" around the city. Freeing New York City had become their number one priority. They were wondering if some kind of energy burst might break through the invisible force field, but they weren't sure what kind yet. They felt frustrated that they couldn't reach Mazarin or any of his followers to hear their demands. They thought it was a hostage situation. And they had great concerns about there being a shortage of food and medical supplies in the city.

Food was taken care of. Mazarin and his consort had thought of that. The magical greening of road ways and bridges was intended to bring quick crops. And they had plans for drafting work crews to care for the magical gardens. They might have had a problem with water because tall buildings depend on electric pumps for their water. But Kai's interference with their magic was restoring electricity and at least assuring the water supply for those with newer plumbing. The only thing Mazarin didn't think of was garbage. People of his rank didn't think of such things, of course. That was always someone else's job.

Kai's main goal that first day was to continue spreading charms throughout the city. His second goal was to try and build additional groups of chanters in other places. At some point Mazarin would realize that his powers were being tampered with and he would want to find his enemies. The only way to keep hidden was to confuse any simple spell he might use to find them by spreading their opposing magic around. Mazarin was using so much power to maintain control over the city, he wouldn't be able to use a powerful spell to find them. Not with the U.S. Military hovering so close outside waiting for their chance to break in.

By mid-morning Mazarin made a general announcement about work crews. "We are all going to have to take part in the upkeep of our new kingdom!" he proclaimed. "My people will be going among you and shepherding you into the communal fields so that we may all have enough to eat. We're going to be short on meats for a while. But we'll handle that in due time. Obey your Master and there will be no trouble. Do not and we will use the Mirror of Forgetfulness on you all, as we did on those knights who were sent against us yesterday."

Kai's magical followers avoided the main work detail, but the Murray's took part in as many different ones as they could. They were a sizable familial army. So they were the logical ones to pass out charms to people on work details and sneak charms into the unused subways. As they did all that, they talked to everyone about overthrowing Mazarin in a way that made people believe it was possible. They also managed to find relatives of some of the policemen and women who had been hit with the spell of forgetfulness and when possible they arranged for the family members to confront them.

Forgetfulness spells start to crumble in the presence of beloved family members. Snow White's stepmother had used one on Virginia's mother to help her forget Virginia and Tony. That was one reason why Snow White had sought to bring Virginia to the Nine Kingdoms, because she knew her presence would shake-up the magical control over her Christine's mind.

Kai's biggest blow to Mazarin's power, though, came in the form of the garbage riots he organized throughout the city. They were timed with the help of an acquaintance of Mr. Murray's who had a tie-in with the American Military. The two men hadn't been as close since Mr. Murray had become a "slave" to Magic Beer, but the present situation brought them together again.

As night fell the Military started assaulting the magical barrier around the island with light artillery. They didn't use anything too powerful because of fears that the areas surrounding Manhattan would be affected. Meanwhile, the populace on the island itself began rioting over garbage and assaulting the areas where Mazarin's people were stationed. The magical barrier was weakened under the onslaught, but not destroyed.

"Mazarin's magic is stretched to the limit, "Kai told his followers that night. "But it's still not enough. We either need to take out one of Mazarin's people, or we need to get into that mountain they've made out of the Empire State Building and take out Mazarin himself. We might be able to use some of the people we've saved from the forgetfulness spell to help us gain access. But I don't know if we can really take on either Mazarin or one of his people directly without help from the place where I came from."

- - - - - - - - - -

"What do you mean they're throwing garbage at the Silver Wand Castle?" Mazarin demanded. "Those ungrateful peasants! And how dare the people outside send mechanical air creatures against us!"

They were underground in their mountain made from the Empire State Building. Zafira had been out trying to hold things together while Mazarin once again sat before his altar mooning over Baby's baby tooth.

"Our magic is holding them back," Zafira said, "but just barely. There seems to be some low level magic interfering with ours."

"Where is it coming from? I'll crush any competing wizard who dares stand against me!" Mazarin said jumping to his feet.

"We haven't been able to pinpoint one location. There seems to be little echoes of it coming from all over the city. Master…we need to call the three caretakers of the sleeping spell to come and join us. With their added power, we would be in a better position to strike back. Our magic is stretched too thin."

"No. At least not until the curse is complete. We'll just have to stand against this. I did not come all this way to fail!"

"But the sleeping curse may not be complete for some time. And our people here will get tired." She didn't add that they could lose this new 10th Kingdom, but it was implied.

"I said NO!" Mazarin's eyes grew a dangerous red. "When the curse is done we can transport Baby as well as those three. When the peasants on this misbegotten island see me riding on her they will see my magnificence and know they have no choice but to submit. In the meantime, you can give the order to stop the vision of the giant in the river. That will save us some power."

"Yes, Master," Zafira said and left him to his altar. She was getting almost as tired of Mazarin as she of that altar.


	29. Chapter 29 Battle for Wendell's Castle

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

**The Battle for Wendell's Castle**

At first light just before the battle began anew at Wendell's castle, Tony slipped into the castle kitchen to try and grab something for breakfast. Herbert had been there earlier trying to rustle up what he could and was now distributing it to Rose and her troops with the remaining palace staff. But he'd started at the front of the castle and Tony had decided he couldn't wait. So he left Raphaela to watch over his post while he slipped inside.

The castle kitchen was empty. Or at least, that's how it appeared to Tony. He thought it was a good thing Rupert was outside because the kitchen was strewn with hastily prepared food and dirty utensils. Tony knew Rupert would have preferred handing the castle over to Victor rather than allow such bedlam. Tony remembered how Rupert had ranted at their troops one night during The Giant War about how war wasn't a reason for being lax in cleanliness. Of course the disarray didn't bother Tony. He just put some cold scrambled eggs on a roll and stuffed it into his mouth. Thinking of Rupert made him reach for a napkin before he turned to walk back out, though. Unfortunately, something invisible got in his way and he ended up dropping the sandwich to the floor.

"What the…?" Tony said. He was feeling a groggy from lack of sleep. So he shook his head and squinted at the area right in front of him. There was nothing there. But he knew he'd hit something. Cautiously he reached his hands out and soft worn clothing and something wooden in front of him. When his hands started disappearing, he quickly pulled away. "Who's there?" he commanded. His right hand reached for some kind of weapon on the kitchen counters. The only thing close by was a large spatula. It wasn't deadly, but at least it was heavy.

"Tony it's me," a voice said. "It's Clayface the Goblin."

Tony lowered his spatula and peered harder at the seemingly empty space in front of him. "Clayface? Are you wearing those shoes? The ones that make you invisible?"

"Yes. I'm safe in them. Safe as long as no one can see me or my carvings."

Tony had almost forgotten that Clayface was in the castle. So much had happened. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You came here to warn me with that statue of Mazarin and I didn't take it seriously."

"That was Mazarin? In the carving?"

"Yes, I think it was."

"Oh. I don't know what I'm carving most times. The shoes do it I think. Since I've had them I carve more than ever before. I have another one for you. Another carving. I was waiting here for you. To give it to you." Clayface held it out toward Tony and waited. But of course Tony couldn't see it. "Here. Take it."

"Clayface," Tony said patiently. "I can't see you, so I can't see the carving that you're holding. Why don't you take off the shoes, at least for a few minutes. It's a little strange talking to air."

"Sorry. You're right. It's just that I feel much better in them." Clayface slipped off the shoes and appeared in front of Tony in all his greenish glory.

"That's better."

"I finished it this morning," Clayface said offering the now visible carving to Tony. "I thought you might need it."

The carving was in white wood. When Clayface had first arrived, Tony had told Herbert to give him anything he needed. Evidently he had asked for and been given wood to carve. This piece was of a ball with a large snake curled around it protectively. Under it Clayface had carved the title "Long Time Guardian of the Nine Kingdoms." "It's a snake…with a ball," Tony said a bit confused.

"Yes. Don't you like it?"

"Oh, yes. Of course I like it," Tony lied. How was he supposed to like anything this strange?

"I have one of a rose, but it needs to be painted blue. You might like that one better."

"Yeah, but what does this one mean?" Tony raised the carving of the snake and ball up higher.

"I don't know. I never know. I just carve."

"Right. OK."

An explosion sounded out front. It was one of the cannons.

"Look, I've got to get back to the battle," Tony said. "I'll just leave this here where it will be safe till I can find someone who can explain its meaning to me. But I promise to take it seriously this time."

"I've got a lot of other carvings."

"And I'll look at all of them after we figure out this curse. But now I have to get back to the war. Clayface, why aren't you wearing a bell?"

"I don't need a bell if I have the shoes on. I'm all-powerful in them."

"Yeah. Well, even if that's true, Virginia told me how you have to take them off sometimes to recharge them. And during those times you'd be vulnerable. I'd feel better if you wore a bell until the curse is lifted. Would you do that for me Old Friend?"

"If you want me to."

"Good. I think Herbert left a pile of them in the small dining room off to the left there. Go pick one up and have yourself some breakfast. I've got to get back out." Tony didn't suggest that Clayface come with him because even though his invisible state might be useful to someone like Rose, Tony didn't think Clayface would be much of a soldier. He would more likely get himself killed and Tony didn't want any more victims of this mess on his conscience.

"I'll put my shoes on now."

"Yes, you do that. But don't forget to take a bell!" Tony yelled as he ran out.

- - - - - - - - - -

By the time Tony got outside, the battle for the castle had resumed in full. He heard Rose shouting orders at the front of the castle and the roar of another cannon. He took his place at his post and readied his cannon in the direction of a group of Victor's men who were trying to advance on the castle from behind. Raphaela moved into place protectively over him.

As Victor's men started charging, Herbert and his small group left their food supplies and returned to the safety of the castle. "Abigail," he said to one of the young maids, "you see things are tidied in the kitchen, except for the little bit we leave for the mice. I'll see to the King."

"Yes, Mr. Winchester."

As Herbert passed through the main entry of the castle he heard a voice call his name.

"Herbert! Herbert, I need you!"

The voice had a funny echoing sound and it seemed to be coming from another room off the great entryway. He thought he recognized it, but he was hoping it wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him. "Your Majesty?" he answered back.

"I'm in here…in the Mirror Room. In the Mirror of Truth."

Herbert went at once and was greatly relieved to see the reflection of Queen Snow White looking back at him from the great mirror.

"Your Majesty! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! It _is_ your Majesty…isn't it?"

"Of course it is. I've only just pulled completely out of Mazarin's spell. He's had me bound to my casket for a long time. I almost broke through once to Matilde, but the spell he used reaffirmed itself again before I could completely warn her."

"Oh, your Majesty, the castle…it's about to be taken by Duke Dragon-Slayer and some thugs from the Fifth Kingdom. We think they may also be working with the hsigo. One was shot down last night with the Huntsman's bow as it tried to set fire to the castle."

"I can see the castle and the army moving against it from my mirror," Snow White said. "I can block them from coming any further with a protection spell while we talk. I need to see Rose, Tony, and Raphaela."

"Then, your Majesty knows about Raphaela?"

"I was able to free myself enough last night to see what was happening in the Nine Kingdoms. Yes, I know about her. I saw her moving freely and talking with several people around the castle. I recognized her cane form of course and it wasn't hard to figure out who she was."

"I'll call them at once, your Majesty. And may I say…it's so good to have you back."

"It's good to be back, Herbert."

By the time Herbert got outside the battle had stopped, at least for all intents and purposes. Victor's men were still shooting arrows, but they were bouncing off the unseen magical barrier that Snow White had created.

Rose stood up from her barricade and stared, along with most of the other members of her army of humans and wolves. "What the…?" she asked no one in particular. "What magic is this?" For indeed it had to be magic.

"Your Majesty!" Herbert called, running up to her in less than his usual butler-like fashion. "Queen Snow White has returned! She's in the Mirror of Truth. She wants to see you, Lord Tony, and Raphaela…At least if it please your Majesty. She's put up a magic barrier to stop the battle."

"So I see," Rose said. "We'll be there at once." Rose handed off her crossbow and motioned for one of the wolves to search for Tony and Raphaela. Then she followed Herbert inside.

Tony and Raphaela were still at the back of the castle. Tony had shot his cannon twice since he'd left Clayface. Raphaela was warding off any arrows that came too close to Tony. She also attacked any of Victor's men who strayed too close from the surrounding woods. Victor's men had no idea who or what she was. But she was clearly enchanted and clearly couldn't be killed or intimidated. They ran back from her faster than from any other member of Rose's army.

When the group finally gathered in the Mirror Room, Timka was with them. The news of Snow White's return had made its way quickly around the outside of the castle and the boy wanted very much to see her.

"Well, it's about time!" Tony said brusquely to Snow White as he rushed into the Mirror Room. "Where have you been?"

"I've been under a spell cast by Mazarin. He caught me off guard and I haven't been able to shake off the enchantment completely till this morning."

"Your Majesty!" Rose said. "We're all so glad to see you."

"Can you end this curse?" Tony demanded.

"Not by myself. Raphaela, will you help me?"

Raphaela appeared in her semi-human form around the cane. "Of course I will, your Majesty."

"I'm sorry I didn't know of your existence until now. But I guess it's just as well. Mazarin might have done something to take you out of commission the way he did with me. Timka, I'm glad to meet you as well."

"You know our nephew?" Rose asked.

"I knew he existed, but I was waiting until after your wedding to introduce him around. I guess Mazarin took that decision out of my hands. I'm glad Timka found his way to you."

"You knew about me?" Timka asked.

"Oh, yes. I investigated your family very thoroughly. You'll have to fill me in on how you found your aunt and uncle. But right now we've got to find a way to end this curse so we can wake up people like your mother before it's too late. We need at least three powerful beings to do it. Raphaela and I could do it alone if we had a lot of time. But with a third we could end it completely in a couple of days. Is there anyone else awake that I'm not aware of?"

"Not that I know of," Raphaela answered. "Mazarin took out the most powerful beings first. Could we round up some of the younger fairies and elves? Would that help?"

"It would take too long."

"Could we use one of the Evil Queen's old mirrors to somehow reflect and increase your powers?" Rose asked "Wendell still has them locked away safely in the dungeon."

"No. They would never agree to work with us."

That was when Tony remembered Clayface's strange carving. "Wait a minute," Tony said. "I was given a carving this morning and I didn't understand it, but maybe it will help. The guy who made it seemed to think it was important. He did another one shortly before Mazarin's takeover that might have helped us if I'd paid attention to it."

"A carving?" Rose asked doubtfully.

"By your friend the goblin?" Snow White asked. "The one with the Magic Shoes?"

"Yes. You know him?"

"I kept watch over just about everything you and your daughter did when you first came here. I saw Virginia and Wolf using the Magic Shoes to sneak into prison to find you. And I saw Wolf throw them into the river as you began your quest for the mirror. Clayface jumped into that same river earlier when he escaped from prison with you. It was an easy thing to guide the shoes to him. I thought he would appreciate being invisible and I knew they'd be safer in his hands than with the trolls. Why don't you get this carving and we'll see if the Mirror of Truth can explain it."

"I'll be right back," Tony said, already heading out the door.

"You're going to get help from a goblin?" Timka asked incredulously. He'd always seen goblins as pretty stupid and useless.

"The shoes bring out whatever you're suppressing and make you feel powerful," Snow White explained. "For many years Clayface tried to suppress his creative urges and now the shoes have him making up for lost time. Like some goblins he can see the future. Clayface puts his visions into his carvings."

"You mean he uses carvings the way some of the gypsies use crystal balls and scrying bowls?" Timka asked.

"That's right."

Tony ran in out of breath. "This is it," he said waving the white pine statue. "It says 'Long Time Guardian of the Nine Kingdoms.' But it's a ball with a snake around it."

"Bring it to the Mirror of Truth," Snow White said. "It will show what the carving really depicts."

Tony walked closer to the mirror. The reflection of Snow White faded as the Mirror of Truth concentrated on the statue. First it reflected it against thick purple mist. Then the reflection faded into a vision of Matilde asleep in her room at the Snoozing Castle with her crystal ball nestled beside her in a white cloth.

Tony instinctively drew closer to the vision of his sleeping wife. "Matilde," he said softly.

"She's still alive," Snow White's voice answered from the mirror.

Tony reached out and touched the image gently.

Snow White continued. "I don't think it's Matilde that the mirror is trying to show us, though. It's the crystal."

As if to answer in the affirmative, the mirror zoomed in on the crystal. Out of its depths rose the figure of a great snake. It got larger and larger until it filled the mirror entirely. Its yellow eyes seemed sad and angry and slightly desperate.

"I'm guessing this is the spirit of the crystal," Snow continued. "It seems to be as upset about the curse as we are. I've heard from Matilde that this crystal has been passed down in her family for thousands of years. That it is very old and very powerful, but also somewhat limited."

"It can only answer when asked, except for the first time you use it," Raphaela said floating closer to Tony. "And it can only be used by one member of my mother's family at a time. My cousin Alicia or my uncle Brutus could use it if they weren't already under the curse."

"You should be able to use it too," Snow White said. "You're Matilde's daughter, after all. It should recognize your touch. I'm sure the spirit within it knows of your existence, even though the rest of us didn't."

"But we'd have to get into the Snoozing Castle. I wasn't strong enough to break the magic barrier around it when Tony and I tried earlier."

"But the two of us should be able to get through," Snow White said. "It shouldn't be as hard to break as the curse itself. It would take too much power. And they expected that most of the powerful beings in the Nine Kingdoms would already be incapacitated."

"Then what are we standing around here for?" Tony asked. "Let's do it! I've still got traveling dust. Raphaela and I can go over there right now."

"The only thing is…I won't be able to maintain the magic barrier around this castle at the same time."

"We'll just go back to fighting," Rose said confidently, even though her green eyes looked tired and her freckles stood out strongly on her paler than usual skin.

"Yes," Timka agreed, tightening his grip on the crossbow that he was still carrying. "We've got to stand up for the Kingdom that stood up for the wolves."

"Fine. I'll give you a few minutes to get back into position. And then we'll go."

- - - - - - - - - -

Victor's men were not happy about the magic barrier that Snow White had put up. They didn't know that it was going to come down soon. Defeating the she-wolf seemed all well and good, but they were tired and eager to return to their families in the Fifth Kingdom to see how the curse was affecting them. Many of them decided to leave as soon as it became clear they couldn't get any closer to Wendell's castle. Victor tried to get them to wait and fight on, but most of them wouldn't listen.

"Why are they leaving?" Barron demanded, fluffing up his black cape in an attempt to look larger than his diminutive frame.

"It's the magic barrier," Victor said. "You've seen it. Arrows just bounce off and our army can't advance."

"With so many magical beings asleep there can't be anyone of consequence in there helping them. Whatever magic they're using will fade out before we know it. All we have to do is wait. I don't like the idea of staying here either. I can't get a decent shave and I've got dust on my clothing. But you don't hear me complaining, do you? We've got to see this through!"

"I agree with you." Victor said. He couldn't help touching his thin mustache at the mention of shaving. He was just as vain as Barron and he knew his mustache didn't look as stylish surrounded by stubble. "But we can't do it with the men of the Fifth Kingdom. Taking this castle isn't as important to them as it is to us. We're going to have to get help from somewhere else. Somewhere…you might not expect."

"We'll take help from anyone except those filthy wolves."

Felicity nodded in agreement with her brother.

"Good." Victor stepped away slightly and gave a long whistle.

Immediately an hsigo flew down from the tall trees above them. It landed in front of Victor and gave a polite bow. Barron fell back at the sight and plucked his jeweled knife from his belt in readiness. The hsigo were known to be ruthless. Felicity fell in behind him and grabbed up the bundle of utensils they had brought. It wasn't much of a weapon, but at least it could act as a shield because of its heavy contents.

"We're losing our army," Victor told the winged monkey. "We need another one. Will the hsigo and satyrs fight with us?"

"Ack Ack," the monkey replied. "He nodded and two more winged monkeys flew down to his side. "Ack Ack," he said to them. And the three took wing again.

"You're not serious!" Barron asked in horror. "You're aligned with them?!"

"You said you didn't want to fight with the wolves. The hsigo and satyrs are on our side. They've been helping us from behind the scenes for some time now. They brought the bells and some other supplies. And one made a foray to the castle last night in an attempt to burn it. That attempt failed, but the death of that monkey has made the others very eager to fight."

"You're working with animals??"

"If you want power you have to be willing to do whatever it takes."

"That's the one thing I WON'T do," Barron said, putting his jeweled knife decidedly back into his scabbard. "I won't work with animals of any kind. I will not be beholding to any of them in ANY way. We Dragon-Slayers kill monsters, we don't work with them."

Felicity stood as tall as she could behind her brother trying to look as decisive as the dark hair shaking loose from the bun at the back of her head would allow.

"Then you won't be king," Victor snarled.

"So be it," Barron said, stepping closer. "I won't besmirch the name of Dragon-Slayer by working with animals. I have more pride and dignity than the likes of you. I'm repulsed by the very sight of you. You disgust me. You're just as much an animal as they are." And with that he spit in Victor's face.

If Victor had had more sleep, perhaps he would have done no more than just slap Barron and leave him in the dust. But in his present state of angry desperation he immediately started beating the young duke up. Barron wasn't used to fisticuffs. All he could think to do was raise his hands to protect his face. Victor snatched the jeweled knife at Barron's waist and drove the blade into Barron's chest, again and again, until his own face and hands were thoroughly splattered with his opponent's blood. When Victor looked up at Felicity from Barron's lifeless body he looked like some sort of blood guzzling monster.

Up till that point Felicity had been standing in shock, unable to react to the horror before her. She was still clutching the bundle she'd snatched up as a shield a few moments before. When she realized Victor intended to make her his next victim, she tried to scream. But nothing came out.

Victor paused only a moment before he advanced toward Felicity. He was still in a crouched position. He figured she would be an easy kill. Then he could get on with the taking of Wendell's castle and get the Chancellorship that he wanted so much.

Felicity, however, was more athletic than her brother. And her reflexes were quicker. As soon as Victor started moving toward her, self-preservation took over. She swung the bundle of kitchen utensils against the side of Victor's face. The heavy pot in it hit him hard against the temple. It stunned him for a few moments. By the time his head cleared Felicity was gone and the head hsigo had returned with several of his kind.

"Go! GO!" Victor yelled, trying to get control of the situation again. "Surround the castle and get ready to take it at the first opportunity!"

The head hsigo bowed again and did as he was told. He and the other hsigo called out as they took to the air, telling the satyrs that they should move into position. By the time Snow White's magic barrier faded, the hsigo and satyrs were ready. They figured the she-wolf in charge had simply run out of magic and time.


	30. Chapter 30 Queen Red's Secret Protector

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

**Queen Red's Secret Protector**

Although Wendell's castle was under attack, Queen Red's castle in the Second Kingdom was not under siege that day. It was actually quite peaceful. So much so that Virginia found herself sleeping late. She woke up in the borrowed bedroom she'd shared with Wolf the night before to the sound of her ring's excited humming.

"At last I'm sure it will be all right," it sang excitedly.

"She has returned, my dear Snow White!"

"She's back?" Virginia asked sleepily, bringing the ring up to her face. "Where has she been?"

"She was under a spell by Mazarin,

locked away from her kith and kin."

"But she escaped! That's wonderful news! Has she got a plan to break the curse?"

"What is planned I cannot say,

But they may have good news today.

To end the curse they must have three,

With great power for all to see.

"Snow White says they now have two.

They need but one to pull us through.

To Snoozing Castle they must go,

To speak to one they don't quite know."

"OK. Well, that's as clear as mud. Except that things might be looking up," Virginia rubbed her blue eyes. "I should tell Wolf. He'll want to hear this. And I should notify the Seventh Kingdom too. Does Dad know?"

"He going to Snoozing castle too,

With Raphaela and Snow, they've a job to do."

"Good. Then I should be up. Wolf is already up I see." She looked around the empty room and saw only white walls with red scrollwork. The white satin sheets on the bed were cold on Wolf's side. "He must have gotten up quite a while ago."

"Wolf tries hard to lead I see,

Even though he wants to flee."

"He's doing his duty. But he's got that same fearful look in his eyes that he had when I told him we had to go back to prison to free Dad."

"It's a castle bright, of white and red,

But Wolf sees it as a prison instead."

"Poor Wolf. I hope we get this curse ended as quickly as possible, so Cousin Red can take back her throne and we can get back to life as usual. Although I'm not really sure what life as usual is any more."

"Wolf likes to lead in a quiet way,

Talking 'wolf stuff' as he did that day."

"Yeah. I think he'd sort of like to be a wolf philosopher."

"In the woods, by a stream.

That's his secret dream."

"Well, I hope we can get it for him," Virginia said.

She got up and got herself ready to face the day. The singing ring giggled as she ran her hands through the cold water basin. She put on the same dress that she'd had on the day before and slipped on Cinderella's shoes. Looking at herself in the mirror over the white bureau in the room she asked the ring, "And what do you think my secret dream is, Ring?"

"Your dream I think is not as clear.

Too often you are filled with fear.

Your future, though, was seen by one.

Remember her words, 'Don't think, become.'"

"Right. I remember that. Snow White said I would become like her, an advisor to lost girls. Do you really believe that?"

"The road I know is not all fun.

But at least you have already begun."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't feel like it. I should've asked you how Anthony is this morning."

"The Chancellor has him well in hand.

Why won't you see him? I don't understand?"

"I'm just not sure how good a mother I can be to him. I'm afraid of making the same mistakes my mother did."

"Mistakes are part of destiny.

Impossible to avoid, you see.

Whether you're her, or him, or me.

To live through them is necessity."

"I guess I've just got to learn that," Virginia said. "Meanwhile, I'd better find Wolf. Shoes…take me to Wolf."

Cinderella's shoes did their stuff and landed her in Queen Red's office. Wolf was seemingly alone there, facing out the stained glass office window where Queen Red had once watched the wolves of her kingdom protesting against her.

Wolf was reciting one of the affirmations from his self-help books, made over slightly to fit the current situation. "I am guided to highest happiness and fulfillment," he said dramatically. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice Virginia's scent drifting toward him. "Every day in every way I am becoming a new and better man. I am sensitive to the needs of my subjects. I am listening to my emotions and I am one with myself and my kingdom. I am full of peace and serenity and I have control over all of my desires…especially the ones that say I should run away from this castle prison as soon as I can."

Virginia couldn't help but chuckle.

"Virginia!" Wolf said, spinning around. "I didn't hear you come in. I didn't even smell you. You would think I'd have noticed because I've been having this feeling that I'm being watched."

"Yeah, I've had that feeling a few times too."

"I was just trying to get myself in the right mood to be king. Did I sound convincing?" He looked at her hopefully like a puppy begging to be told he was a good dog.

"It wasn't bad," Virginia answered. "I know this is hard for you."

"Harder than turning down a rack of lamb on an empty stomach. I wish Cousin Red would get better soon."

"Well, I've got some news. The ring told me that Snow White has been under a spell by Mazarin. But she's gotten out of it and she, Raphaela, and Dad are going to the Snoozing Castle today to see if they can find a way to end the curse."

"Oh, huff puff! I hope they do. It can't end soon enough for me. Playing soldier was one thing, and being a prince is bad enough. But being a king??" Wolf whined pitifully. "There are so many things that could go wrong. So many people to please. And not nearly enough fresh air…even though the windows are pretty." He gestured to the red dominated stained glass window that he'd just been looking out of.

"You've only been on the job for one day."

"Which is far too many as far as I'm concerned."

"You know, even if they find a way to end the spell, they may not be able to set everything right all at once. You may have to stay here for a while."

Wolf whined again and sank into the chair behind his cousin's desk. "At least Anthony is here. And you're here too thanks to Cindy's shoes. Have you seen our little cub this morning? He was making the cutest gurgling sounds right after his breakfast. I almost think he was trying to talk. Could he be talking this soon?" Wolf's whole demeanor changed as he spoke of his son. His tail twitched up excitedly behind him and his eyes brightened to green.

"I haven't had time to see him yet," Virginia said. "But the ring said the Chancellor had him well in hand."

"Oh, he does, he does. The Chancellor's whole family is pitching in. And they seem to be enjoying it too. When things are bad, little ones remind us how wonderful life can be."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

"But even though he's got lots of company," Wolf said leaping to his feet, "I'm sure Anthony would love to see his Mommy. You should go up and see him."

"I will later," Virginia said, backing up. "I just have to go over to the Seventh Kingdom and tell them how things are going. I'm Leaf Fall's Second, so I've GOT to go." Virginia was speaking faster now, rattling off words in the way of one who's giving excuses instead of reasons. "They need to know Snow White is back and that they're working on ending the curse. And that they may have some news before the end of the day. After I go there I'll come back and see Anthony."

"You're sure? I know he'd really like to see his Mommy." Wolf took a step forward, realizing only after he did it that it might make Virginia flee.

"Oh, yeah, later. I promise. Shoes…I think we should be going to the Seventh Kingdom now." The shoes sparkled in agreement and Virginia vanished.

Wolf sighed loudly. He knew Virginia was trapped in what his self-help books would call "avoidance." Matilde and Raphaela would say to give it time and that she'd come around. But it really worried him the way Virginia stayed away from their son.

"Prince Wolf?" A tentative voice said behind him.

"Who's there?" Wolf said spinning around. He thought maybe someone else had teleported in with magic, but no one was there. He sniffed the air, but there weren't any new scents. "I'm obviously starting to imagine things," he said to himself. "I have been under a lot of strain."

"I'm sorry to bother you," the disembodied voice said.

Wolf looked around, but again there was no one there. "Who's there?"

"We've never met, but my name is Ichabod."

"Icha-who?" Wolf spun around again trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be moving.

"Icabod."

"Are you a gremlin? Or a naughty elf? Or maybe a spirit of some kind?"

"I'm a spirit," the voice said, wandering to a tall bookcase in the corner of the room. "I used to be Her Majesty's secretary. But…I'm now deceased."

"Oh, I remember you. My sister Rose told me about you.."

"I met your sister Rose just before I died. Although I didn't realize who she was."

"You're a ghost then."

"Yes, I think I am."

The voice had moved around behind the desk, so Wolf turned in that direction. "Do you have to remain invisible?"

"I'm a very new ghost and I tire easily. Appearing takes a lot of energy. Moving things does too."

"Well, huff-puff! At least stay in one place, I'm having a hard time figuring out what direction to talk in."

"Sorry. I'll stay right here."

"I think I've been feeling you around the castle. Are you haunting Queen Red?"

"No. At least not in the way you mean. I think I had unfinished issues. That's why ghosts come back, isn't it?"

"That's what my foster mother used to say."

"I wanted to make sure My Gentle Queen was all right. They were planning to burn her just before I died."

Wolf knew by the feeling Ichabod put into the words "My Gentle Queen" that his attachment to Queen Red was more than those of a loyal subject.

"My last thoughts were of her," Ichabod continued. "And…in making sure that she was all right I think I also needed to face my feelings toward your people more clearly. I wasn't at all in favor of your kind, you know."

"I guess I can't blame you for that. Not many people in the Second Kingdom had a kind word to say about wolfies until recently."

"I've been watching you and your sister. I know how you defended the Second Kingdom. And I've seen you since the war when you've come to visit My Queen. I see how you're trying to help My Queen even now, even though you don't want to be here. You're not at all what I thought you were."

"You've been caring for Queen Red on the sly, haven't you?"

"Since she's been asleep I see to her needs when no one else has time."

"Did you hear what my wife Virginia said just now? Snow White is back and they're working on a cure for this curse. So it might be over very soon."

"I'm hoping it will be. But when it is, I have something I want you to give My Queen."

"What?"

"A book. A private journal written by her late father. I found it in one of the store rooms on the floor just above the dungeon. I explored a lot of that area right after I came back because we spent some time in the dungeon together after the giant and trolls took over."

"You were sort of rummaging through your own subconscious," Wolf said, thinking of his self-help books.

"Sub-what?"

"Never mind. It's a term I picked up in the Tenth Kingdom. Go on."

"Anyway, while I was there I found the journal. I read it and I found some things that I think she might want to know."

"Is it in here?" Wolf asked, looking around the room.

"No. People are nervous enough without seeing a book float through the air on its own power. Plus, if I left it here or in her room, someone else might accidently pick it up and read it. It's too private to be read by anyone else. You need to come with me to the store room where I found it. Then you can keep it and give it to her in private."

"I'd much rather go journal hunting with you than sit here and act kingly. Lead on, Ichabod. You'll just have to tell me where you're going from time to time because you don't have a scent trail to follow."

Ichabod led the way through the castle by opening doors and knocking on walls to direct Wolf. Like Wendell's castle, Queen Red's only had a skeleton crew, so there weren't too many people about. Finally they came to a long dusty corridor.

"It's this door," Ichabod said. He knocked on the door in question. It was a very heavy door with metal studs on it. "I don't think it's locked. There's no key hole. But it might be difficult to open. If I help you open it, I'm afraid I may not be able to do much else."

Wolf turned the handle of the door. It gave way slightly then seemed to stick. "A few runs at it might do the trick," he said. It did. But not before his left side had taken quite a pounding. At last it flew open. "It's a good thing I'm in good shape," Wolf said. "Rose has had me working out with her army since my son was born. It's brutal, but it obviously came in handy."

"Over here," Ichabod said. He crossed the room in the quick way of a spirit and pulled the journal in question out from underneath some old armaments. "Here it is."

Ichabod floated the book into Wolf's hands. It had a black leather binding that was well worn and cracked in several places. Red Riding Hood the Third's father had carried it on many military campaigns. He had, after all, been the leader of the kingdom's army.

Ichabod pulled the book open in Wolf's hands to the part he thought was most important. "Read this."

Wolf pulled it closer to his face because of the dim lighting. There was only one window in the room and it was dingy from lack of cleaning. "'August 23rd,'" he read. "'Mazarin and his lot are causing trouble again and our army is needed. I can't believe that we're actually having to work with the troll king on this. But Queen Matilde says it will go better if we all pull together. Mazarin hates the trolls just as much as he hates us.'" Wolf looked up from the journal. "Huff puff! Some things don't change, do they?"

"Further down," Ichabod urged. "The part about his daughter being born."

Wolf cleared his throat and began reading again. "'A messenger came this morning to tell me that Ruby gave birth to a daughter last night. I'm sorry that I can't be there, even though having a baby was mainly Ruby's idea. She said since it looked like there was going to be a war, she wanted to be sure of having some part of me in case anything happened. And she felt it would give the populace something to rally around if we gave them an heir. It will be nice to have a legitimate daughter that I can openly parade around and spoil. I'm told the people of the Second Kingdom are celebrating her birth as best they can during the current problems. I'm assuming that Ruby has given her the name that I suggested if it was a girl…Garnet. It's really very pretty if you put the accent on the second syllable as you would the name Annette. And it will carry on the tradition her family has of naming its children after gemstones.'"

"You see! Ichabod said excitedly. "Her parents were going to name her Garnet!" The outline of his former form appeared slightly in order to make the point. "When we were together in that horrible dungeon she said she was sad that she didn't have a name outside of her title."

"Isn't Red her name?"

"No. It's her title." Ichabod moved his ghostly spectacles further up his long nose and his form became more solid in appearance. "Red Riding Hood the Third is her family name and title. Her mother was interested in her being queen above all else. I know My Dear Queen would like to know the name that she almost had. Now…there's another page further on." Ichabod turned the pages further. "July 12th in the following year. Read that."

"'It's beastly hot,'" Wolf read. "'But of course most of Mazarin's people don't care about heat. We're all looking forward to reaching the Eighth Kingdom where the bulk of this thing they're calling The Magic War will probably be fought. At least it's cooler up there in the northernmost mountains. I'm just as happy to be away from Ruby right now anyway. She's made it very clear that she doesn't want me around either her or our daughter. Ruby is jealous of everything. She doesn't like it that the people of the Second Kingdom like me better than her. Or that I like having a bit of female companionship when I'm on the march. She says she wants to keep our daughter to herself. She won't even let me call her by the name I picked out. I often think that I married the wrong sister. But then I remember that Scarlet always seemed so headstrong, she probably would have given me even more trouble.'" Wolf stopped. "Scarlet. He mentioned my mother!"

"Yes, I thought you would like that part. Read on."

"'I thought Ruby would be more pliable. Perhaps I was wrong. At any rate, Ruby has asked me to stay away from our daughter. It makes me a little sad because I like her. But if that's the trade I have to make in order to have peace, then so be it.'"

"I want My Dear Queen to see that her father at least liked her and wanted her to have a name. Will you give this to My Queen and show her those parts? I don't know if the rest of it will interest her much. It mostly goes on about how brilliant he thought he was in battle. He mentions a lot of his mistresses, but he's not…indelicate. It might be good for My Queen to see that at least in those few paragraphs he showed more fondness for her than he probably felt for most people."

"I give you my solemn wolf word that I will give it to her at the first opportunity. But you know…you could give it to her yourself. You're not the first ghost to haunt a castle. She might find it comforting to have you around."

"Oh, no," Ichabod said, starting to fade. I will always be near if she needs me. But I don't want her to feel tied down by my memory. Sometimes ghosts should stay silent. Just tell her you found it accidentally while going through an old store room looking for additional bells to fight back the curse."

"I suppose I could do that. Although, if you haven't noticed, I'm usually not good at lying."

"But you are good at keeping the secrets of others, are you not? You told your wife when you thought you were alone in My Queen's bedchamber that you are staying here to protect some kind of secret for Maria Thompson's."

Wolf whined. "Oh, no! No one was supposed to hear that!"

"Don't worry. I didn't hear the secret itself. You didn't talk of it further because you seemed to sense you weren't alone. But it tells me that you will keep the secrets of others if you are asked. Will you do this for me?"

"Oh, all right," Wolf said, carefully closing the old journal. "But don't make a habit of it."

- - - - - - - - - -

When Virginia reappeared in the Seventh Kingdom, she found herself on the edge of a meadow with Leaf Fall's younger daughter Forsythia and an old human woman. They were both standing over a little calf who'd obviously been hit by Mazarin's sleeping curse. The calf's worried mother was hovering nearby.

"I can't get it back to our barn," the old woman said, referring to the calf. The woman was somewhere in her seventies, dressed in homespun clothing with a knitted shawl around her shoulders. Her face was careworn. "My man came down with the curse the first night. I've been trying to run our little farm as best I can. Bessie here has been wearing a bell right along, so I guess she was protected from the curse, as you say bells can stop it. But her calf didn't have a bell. How long can a little thing like this live without milk." It was a statement more than a question. Nobody present really wanted to think about it. "We were counting on selling that calf later in the season. We can't afford to lose her."

"You shouldn't have to," Forsythia said, kneeling down next to the little animal. The elf placed her hand gently on the creature's ribs and felt a slight rise and fall as it breathed. Forsythia's wings trembled slightly. "I can get it back to your barn with the help of magic. At least it will be safe there from rain and predators."

"We'd really appreciate that, Princess." The old woman turned to look at Virginia for the first time. "You some kind of fairy?" she asked. She assumed Virginia had magic of some kind in order to appear out of no where. "You don't have wings. And I know that some fairies don't have wings."

"No. No, I'm not a fairy. My name is Virginia. I was looking for Princess Forsythia."

"You can go back to your cottage," Forsythia told the woman. "I'll bring both the calf and her mother to your barn."

"I'd really appreciate that." The woman nodded to them both respectfully. Then she walked away without a backward glance. She didn't care what the magic folk had to say to one another. Especially as it might be more bad news. She was too busy trying to see to her own survival.

"My sister tried to get the word out about bells halting the curse," Forsythia said, still crouching next to the calf. "But there are so few of our kind untouched by this that it's been hard to reach everyone. This poor little thing won't last long if the curse doesn't end soon. Neither will that woman's husband."

"Your mother would be glad to see you helping them."

"I wish I could do more. Amaranth has decided to stay involved only from a distance."

Like her father always does when things get bad, Virginia thought. "But you decided to come out and see what you could do."

"It's not much."

"I'm sure it means a lot to your people." Virginia saw Forsythia's wings twitch slightly at the words "your people." She realized the words had some meaning for her. "Your people need you now. All of them."

"Do you have news?" Forsythia asked turning to look at Virginia for the first time."

"Snow White has been under a spell cast by Mazarin. She broke out of it this morning. She and Matilde's daughter Raphaela are searching for a way to break the curse. They may have news later today."

"This can't be over soon enough," Forsythia said, getting to her feet.

"No. It can't," Virginia agreed. At last she knew why Cinderella's shoes kept bringing her to Forsythia. The young elf's kind heart and concern for this farm couple and their livestock showed so clearly in her dark brown eyes. Of Leaf Fall's two daughters, Virginia had a feeling that Forsythia was more suited to follow in her mother's footsteps. She had only been kept from it by the accident of being born second. "Talk to the rest of your people and make a list of the worst cases in your kingdom so they can be freed from the curse first," Virginia said. "Have as many elves as possible standing by in case they're needed. When I know more, I will come to you."

"I'm not sure if I can..."

Virginia touched the smaller woman's shoulder. "Don't think so hard. Just do it. Your people are counting on you. I know you won't let them down."

"I'll do what I can."

"I know you will. I'll see you later."

And with that Cinderella's shoes sparkled and Virginia disappeared.


	31. Chapter 31 Chu'Mana

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE**

**Chu'Mana**

While Virginia was talking to Forsythia, Snow White, Raphaela, and Tony were appearing in front of the Snoozing Castle. It was a beautiful castle made out of pink and white stone. It was just the sort of castle where Tony could imagine the story of Sleeping Beauty taking place. The only thing was, it was deathly quiet in an eerie sort of way.

Now, Raphaela," Snow White began. "You go to the east side of the castle and I'll go to the west. You should stay in your cane form so you can concentrate your energy. Try and feel the barrier and push against it with everything you've got. Since Mazarin and his people seem to be sticking with old spells, I'll use the most standard one I know to try and bring down the magic barrier. It shouldn't take long."

Raphaela pulled out of Tony's hand and bowed to Snow White in agreement. The two of them took their posts with Tony following after Raphaela. Snow White began to chant.

"Inso eli todop ry,

Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

The magic barrier began to glow with a strange green light, but it still held. So Snow White repeated the spell.

"Inso eli todop ry,

Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

This time the magic barrier glowed brighter and then it melted away into the ground.

Snow White joined Tony and Raphaela. "We can go inside now," she said.

Tony sprinkled some traveling dust on himself and Raphaela and they appeared immediately in Matilde's bedchamber. She was still snoozing away. Tony lovingly smoothed his wife's short curly hair. She answered with a gentle snore. Tony smiled. "I've been telling her that she snores," he said softly to no one in particular, "but she never believes me."

Snow White appeared next to Raphaela. She gave Tony a few moments to commune silently with his wife. Then she said, "Raphaela, touch the crystal and appear in your human form so you can talk to it."

Raphaela did as she was told. She tapped the crystal as it lay tucked up in a white cloth next to her mother. Then she floated back a bit and allowed her full form to appear around the twisted piece of white wood. "I am Raphaela, daughter of Matilde, granddaughter of Sabirah, great-granddaughter of Nelifar. Since the rest of my family, including my mother, can no longer act for themselves, I claim the use of this crystal."

In answer the crystal began to glow with a golden light. The light became brighter and brighter, until it filled the whole room and even flowed outside the windows to challenge the sun. The light didn't bother Snow White or Raphaela as they didn't have mortal eyes, but Tony had to put his up hand to shield face.

"I know who you are," a female voice answered from the crystal. "I know who all of you are. I'm glad you were able to get through the barrier to talk to me. I haven't been able to do anything myself without breaking the promise I made so long ago. I am deeply concerned about this sleeping curse. And about Mazarin's takeover of the land he is calling the Tenth Kingdom."

"Can you help us?"

"Yes. But you will have to choose what you want me to do. I can either cure the sleeping curse in all of the Nine Kingdoms at once. Or I can put what Mazarin is now calling the Tenth Kingdom back as it was. But to repair the Tenth Kingdom I will need a bit of help from someone of Raphaela's strength. Either way, I will forfeit my existence on this plane by using my full powers. I bought the safety of what you call the Nine Kingdoms long ago by agreeing to limit myself to this crystal. If I break that promise I must move on."

"Move on? You mean you would die?" Tony asked, blinking behind his raised hand.

"No more than Raphaela has." The crystal lowered its light so that Tony could see more comfortably. "I will simply move on. If I had done something like that during The Magic War, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. But I thought it was good that the whole Nine Kingdoms fought as one to stop Mazarin. And I didn't want to leave my post as guardian of this land and its people."

"Would it be possible for you to join with Snow White and me to bring my mother and perhaps my uncle out of the curse?" Raphaela asked. "Would that cause you to move on?"

"No it wouldn't. I could do that easily within the limits of my job as your crystal ball."

Raphaela turned to Snow White. "With my mother and uncle awake, you would have the three older ones you need to start ending the curse. Then I could help the crystal put New York back as it was."

"You would need someone to go with you," Snow White said. "You have the gift of movement, but the crystal does not."

"I'll go," Tony said. "It's my world. It's the least I can do."

"There will be danger," the voice from the crystal said. "I can defeat Mazarin and his followers by a direct magical assault, but many would be hurt or killed in the fight. If Mazarin's power is dampened and removed from their circle, I can quickly turn back the magic of the others."

"Then that's what we've got to do," Raphaela said. "I am almost as old as Mazarin. I can dampen his powers before he even knows what's happened. All I need is for Tony to throw me into his hands."

"Since Mazarin is the one who maneuvered your death," the voice from the crystal said, "destiny will give you great power over him. He will have a hard time throwing you off once contact has been made."

"Now, wait a minute!" Tony bellowed. "This sounds waay too dangerous. Mazarin could kill Raphaela."

"I wouldn't die," Raphaela said. "That has already happened. I would just move on to the next level along with the spirit of the crystal. It is my calling to heal this land, as well as to act as young Anthony's godmother. As long as Mazarin exists he will be a threat."

"Yeah, and I can just imagine how your mother would feel if something happened to you. Me too, for that matter."

"My mother won't like it, but it is my destiny, just as it was Virginia's to face her mother after the violence that was done to her."

"Raphaela is right," Snow White said, as if the decision had been made.

"Good," the voice from the crystal said. "The three of us will gather around first Matilde and then Brutus. We will bring them back to themselves and they and Snow White will end the curse in the Nine Kingdoms. They can begin with small groups and then expand their power over each individual kingdom as they become more comfortable working together. I will journey through the mirror with Raphaela and Lord Lewis to the Tenth Kingdom. Raphaela will dampen Mazarin's powers and Tony will throw the crystal to the ground, where it will shatter and I will be freed."

"But what if something happens and I drop you before it's time?" Tony asked.

Snow White and Raphaela looked at him.

"Well, it's not like I've never broken anything accidentally before," Tony said. "Just ask the dwarves of Dragon Mountain. They're still calling me a breaker."

"The crystal can only be broken if I allow it," the voice from the crystal explained. "No power can destroy it otherwise. It is part of my bargain."

"Are you really a snake?" Tony asked.

"Anthony!" Snow White said.

"Well, I'm just asking."

"That's the form I once held," the voice from the crystal answered. "It's the one I will have again when the crystal breaks."

"How did you get to be a crystal?" Tony asked. Snow White shot him another look, but he ignored it.

"That's a very long story from a long ago time. There is work to be done. Lives to be protected. If all things work well, you can ask my brother for the full story."

"And who is your brother?"

"Your daughter and son-in-law have met him. Raphaela was present as well, though they were not introduced. His name is Kai. And he is presently on the other side of the mirror in the Tenth Kingdom. He has made your old apartment into a center of operations against Mazarin. The family you foolishly wished into being your slaves are working with him."

"Yeah, well I can explain that. It was this dragon dung bean that Wolf gave me…"

"When I pull all of the foreign magic from your world, your wishes will be undone as well. Only the mirror portholes and magic already belonging to your world will remain."

Tony didn't know if he liked the idea of being around when the Murray family came to themselves. He wondered if he could slip back to the mirror before he ran into any of them.

"Give my brother my best," the voice from the crystal said. "Tell him I will try and say goodbye to him before I move on."

"Sure we can do that," Tony said.

"Can you tell us your name," Raphaela asked.

"My name is Chu'Mana. Is that all? I can only speak once to each of the beings that I serve, so this will be the last words we share till the deed is done."

"Yes," Raphaela said. "That's all. As you said…we have work to do."


	32. Chapter 32 The Tide Turns

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

**The Tide Turns**

Rose's troops were struggling hard to protect Wendell's castle. They had been taken by surprise when the human troops from the Fifth Kingdom had been replaced by the hsigo and satyrs. The satyrs challenged them from the ground with arrows and swords. Their cloven hooves moved easily over the ground and were an additional weapon against the human and wolf troops of the Fourth Kingdom because being kicked by one of them was the same as being kicked by a small horse.

Meanwhile, the winged monkeys attacked from the air. At first they tried to enter the castle through various open windows, but they were thwarted by the castle gremlins who closed and locked all the windows and shutters within the castle. Usually gremlins don't take part in such things, but they had enjoyed Tony's heating system during the winter so much they intended to keep the present occupants of the castle. There was no telling whether furred creatures like winged monkeys would be interested in something like central heating.

Since the hsigo weren't able to break into the castle as easily as they'd hoped, they changed tactics. Some of them started to shoot arrows from above while others tried to smash the windows of the castle that didn't have shutters. A couple of them were able to force their way in by smashing windows with rocks. But Herbert and the few servants still inside the castle had been able to fight them back.

Timka had taken charge of the Huntsman's old bow on the ground in front of the castle. He was able to take down many of the hsigo, but they just kept on coming. They had been hoping for something like this for such a long time. They weren't going to give up easily. Rose and her troops were being forced back further and further toward the castle.

In the end, the undoing of the hsigo came about because of their loud attack cries. They had large voices in comparison to their size and the sound of their war whoops were heard over a great distance. Baby heard them as she was flying Relish's three children and Sammy her frog interpreter near the border of the Fourth Kingdom. The troll children had been trying to visit as many trolls in their kingdom as possible in order to appear as important as possible in the hopes of regaining their power.

"What's that?" Burly asked.

Baby came to almost a dead stop in the air so she could listen to the sound more closely. The trolls and frog on her back could hear better without the rush of wind in their ears. Baby's purple wings shivered as they flapped. Then she growled and muttered something under her fiery breath.

"She says she has a bad feeling about that sound," Sammy the toad translated.

"I don't like it much either," Bluebell agreed.

"What kind of animal is making that noise?" Blabberwort asked.

"It's the hsigo," Sammy said. "I haven't heard it often, but every now and then a party of them would come near my marsh while they were hunting. It's a horrid sound that's hard to forget. All the animals stay clear of them, except for the satyrs of course. They're very smart and very nasty."

Baby growled again and roared as if she were answering some kind of challenge. Then she took off in the direction of the hsigo war cries with an abruptness that surprised everyone on her back.

"Hang on!" Burly yelled.

"I think she's going to try and fight them," Sammy said, scrambling down further into Burly's pocket. "Why I don't know, but she seems pretty set on it."

"I think we see that," Burly said as he fought the rushing wind to stay on the angry dragon's back.

Baby turned slightly and growled toward Burly.

"She says she can let you all off if you want, but she intends to fight."

"I think that would be a good idea," Bluebell yelled from behind his sister.

"Trolls don't back away from a fight," Blabberwort said.

"No, but maybe we could fight on the ground?" Bluebell pleaded. "It's more troll-like."

"You can fight on the ground if you want," Burly said, trying to sound as strong and brave as he could. "I'm staying with Baby."

Sammy the toad groaned to himself but said nothing. He felt he should stay with Baby too, but he wasn't altogether happy about it.

Baby spun near the castle, close enough for the trolls to see that the satyrs were fighting as well.

"That's more like it!" Blabberwort said as Baby flew to the ground. "Satyrs are more proper opponents for trolls. My sword is ready for them."

"Mine too," Bluebell agreed.

Baby left the two younger trolls just outside the battle. Then she and Burly took to the air again with Sammy the frog still hiding in Burly's pocket. Baby roared a challenge to the hsigo and charged at them breathing fire. The last thing the hsigo expected to see was a dragon coming at them. They hesitated for a moment, as did the satyrs down below. They couldn't believe their eyes. It was a dragon! Weren't dragons supposed to be extinct? Rose and her army knew of Baby's existence, so they were not as taken aback. But they certainly didn't expect to see her join the fight.

When the hsigo recovered themselves they tried to shoot arrows at the dragon, but most of the arrows were burned up in Baby's fiery breath. The rest bounced off her scaly green hide. Baby easily routed the hsigo from the air space around the castle. She burned any that came close to her and even chewed a few of them up. She was like an avenging monster. She had no formal training as an attack dragon, yet she seemed to know exactly what to do.

As for Burly, he was having a marvelous time! He shouted triumphantly at the hsigo and let Baby know when the winged monkeys tried to attack her with raised swords from behind. As for Sammy, he translated warnings from Baby to Burly to let him know when she was going to take a hard plunge or a quick turn. In this way the three of them acted as one.

Within minutes the hsigo were backing away from the castle and Baby was herding them off to the west. Sammy was yelling at her to keep them away from the Disenchanted Forest. He was afraid they might be more powerful on their own turf.

"Yeah! Let's send them to another kingdom," Burly yelled in agreement. "Let somebody else worry about them!"

On the ground, Bluebell and Blabberwort joined the fight against the satyrs. The satyrs were unnerved at seeing the hsigos beaten from the skies. But they didn't intend to give up the ground they'd gained. The two younger trolls seemed dangerously outnumbered as they came at the satyr army from behind. But they were soon joined by a crossbow wielding Felicity. Her hair was now totally out of its bun and her dress was badly soiled. It didn't matter, though. She was determined to avenge her brother's murder, even if it meant siding with Rose and any other creature that she considered beneath her. She had found a crossbow and a supply of arrows near the body of a fallen Fifth Kingdom man. And she was putting them to good use killing as many satyrs as she could. In silent agreement she joined forces with the two younger trolls and they cleared a path to Wendell's castle.

Rose's troops needed the help. The satyrs were able to move very quickly on their cloven feet, often before Rose's troops could react. The cannons were of no use against them. The teeth of the full blooded wolves and the Huntsman's bow were their most valuable weapons.

The battle might have gone on for some time, except that Lieutenant Burke suddenly appeared with a large retinue of fresh wolf and human troops. Leading the way was a small herd of unicorns, the ones pledged to Kai. Unicorns are blessed with even greater speed than that of the satyrs. They were able to avoid most of the arrows sent against them. And although they didn't have Baby's fiery breath or huge jaws, their swift feet and single sharp horn were formidable weapons. And their kick was way nastier than that of a satyr. They were able to create a lot of uncertainty among the satyr army before Lieutenant Burke's forces took over the battle.

Lieutenant Burke was surprised to find the two troll children and Lady Felicity fighting against the satyrs, but he didn't let it throw him. He sent his troops out on either side of them until the satyrs were swept off in the same direction as the hsigo. He then sent a small retinue of his people after them to do the final cleaning up as he made his way to Rose.

"My Queen!" Lieutenant Burke exclaimed as he got off his horse. He came to a stop and bowed before her.

Rose stood up behind the fountain in front of the castle where she'd been doing the largest amount of fighting. "Lieutenant! Not a moment too soon."

The lead unicorn came to them and whinnied softly. He was trying to introduce himself, but of course no one understood him.

"This unicorn came with a group of his followers last night," Lieutenant Burke said. "Unicorns are such a rare sight. They usually keep to themselves or hide in the sea. We knew their coming to us meant something important. It seems like this one is the leader. He was obviously trying to talk to us as he seems to be doing now. Finally we understood there was trouble, and he and his people led us here."

"I sent you a messenger. I guess he didn't make it through the enemy lines."

The unicorn whinnied again.

"He still seems somewhat concerned," Lieutenant Burke said.

"That was great fun!" Blabberwort said, as she came toward Rose with Bluebell and Felicity in tow.

"Yeah," Bluebell agreed. "Let's do it again."

"Felicity," Rose said coldly. "Why aren't you with your brother? Why didn't you run with the rest of your army?"

"She's with us," Bluebell said.

"She fought alongside us against the satyrs," Blabberwort explained.

Rose looked at her cousin-in-law questioningly.

"They killed Baron," Felicity said, willing back the tears. She didn't want to cry in front of this rabble. "Victor. He killed my brother. The men of the Fifth Kingdom who were with us left after the magic barrier went up around your castle. Victor brought the hsigo and satyrs to take their place."

"Victor?" Rose said.

"He was the one in charge. He came to us a long time ago. He said there were factions in the Fifth Kingdom who were unhappy about the way things were going. He said he wanted to help my brother gain Wendell's throne."

"Who else is this Victor working with?"

"Victor said that Chancellor Gavrilo of the Fifth Kingdom was behind it. That he believed you and your kind were working with Mazarin."

"And you believed that."

Felicity's angry attitude wavered for a moment. "No. It was a means to an end. But there was never any mention of the hsigos. My brother refused to accept their help. So Victor killed him."

"You were a fool to trust him."

"I see that!" Felicity snapped. "And my brother has paid for it. Look, you and I aren't friends. I still don't like your kind. But the people who murdered my brother are my greater enemies. I want to fight against them!"

"That I understand. You may have a chance to fight them again later. But you will have to prove yourself to me before I welcome you."

"Then I can fight with you?"

"We may not like each other, but we are still family. And to a wolf that is important. Until this is over we'll need everyone we can get. When he awakens, Wendell can decide for himself what to do with you."

A triumphant roar sounded from above. It was Baby returning with Burly. They circled the castle once and then came to rest near Rose's group.

"Did you see us!" Burly whooped. He jumped down from the dragon's back and rushed up to his siblings. "Suck an elf! What a rush! Better than magic mushrooms!"

Bluebell gave his brother a weak smile. He preferred being on the ground.

As for Blabberwort, she didn't want to encourage her brother in his celebrations either. He might start thinking that Baby belonged only to him. She liked riding the dragon too and she enjoyed the look of awe that came over the faces of their people when they flew down from the skies on Baby's back. She wondered if there was any way she could get a dragon for herself. To change the subject she said, "This is Felicity. She joined us in battle. She's a great warrior."

"She really knows her way around a crossbow," Bluebell agreed, also trying to get the subject off flying.

Burly checked out the lady with the dark brown hair and torn clothing that showed glimpses of her muscled legs. The disarray of her person made her look almost troll-like. He also couldn't help but notice the healthy flush of her face and how comfortably she held her crossbow. Here was a woman who knew weapons! And the rest of her wasn't bad either. "Hellllo," he said, throwing his ax carelessly over his shoulder. He sauntered up to her like the returning hero that he thought he was. "Where have you been all my life?" he asked in a low voice as he leaned into her.

Felicity sniffed and turned away. But she still shot him a quick appraising look over her shoulder, which he of course noticed.

"Nicey nice," Burly said appreciatively.

Inside his pocket Sammy groaned with disgust.

The head unicorn left the others and walked up to Baby. A few other unicorns joined him.

Baby had never seen a unicorn or even heard of them. She looked at them questioningly.

The head unicorn whinnied to his unicorn companions. "The dragons have returned," he said in a language no one else but the unicorns could understand. "The dragons have returned." He went up to Baby and lowered his head so that his horn pointed towards her.

Baby realized it was a greeting. She had seen dragons in the dimension where she came from do the same thing when they met. It was a sign of respect. In essence you were lowering your weapon. Baby assumed the unicorn was trying this sort of greeting. So she lowered her head as well and gently touched the golden horn on her nose to the unicorn's. They held for a moment, then both raised their heads.

"The unicorns act as if they know the dragon," Lieutenant Burke observed.

"That's not possible," Blabberwort said. "Mazarin brought her from the dimension where he was imprisoned.

"Well, there's obviously some tie between them," Rose said. "Or at least they have a common way of greeting each other."

- - - - - - - - - -

When Virginia left Forsythia she thought Cinderella's magic shoes would take her back to either Wolf or Wendell's castle. The last thing she expected was to find herself at Sleeping Beauty's castle in Matilde's room.

Virginia appeared just in time to see Snow White standing at the foot of Matilde's bed with Raphaela standing on one side and the crystal glowing in its original position at the other. Snow White was muttering a spell and Virginia stayed quiet so not to interfere. Her father didn't seem to notice her arrival, he was so centered on watching Matilde.

Matilde's eyes fluttered as Snow White finished the spell. She moaned slightly and Tony took her hand and bent over to kiss her cheek.

Snow White quietly picked up the crystal and motioned for Raphaela and Virginia to follow her out so that Tony and Matilde could have a private reunion.

"I was so worried," Tony whispered.

"Where am I?" Matilde asked rubbing her eyes.

"You're in Sleeping Beauty's castle. And you along with everyone else here was doing a Sleeping Beauty imitation."

"What?" Matilde tried to get up and take charge like she always did. But she felt faint and had to lie down again.

"You probably need some food. You haven't eaten in quite some time."

"I'm thirsty too."

"After Snow and Raphaela wake up your uncle and a couple of other people Raphaela and I can pull together some grub. Everyone's going to feel like you."

"What happened? The last thing I remember…"

"Shhh. Don't try and talk. It's a very long story." Tony sat down beside her and held her hand to his chest. "Let's see now, where should I begin. Well…it seems Mazarin wasn't imprisoned as securely as you thought..."

- - - - - - - - - -

As soon as Snow White and the rest were out in the hall in front of Matilde's room, Virginia said, "You found a cure for the curse?"

"Not exactly," Snow White said holding up the crystal ball. "We found our third."

"Matilde's crystal."

"Yes, it has the power to help us and your world as well."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well, first Raphaela and I are going to find Matilde's Uncle Brutus. Then we'll wake up as many other people as we can, starting with the youngest and the oldest. With Brutus and Matilde I can then begin waking up the rest of the Nine Kingdoms while your father and Raphaela take the crystal to sort things out in your world."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Everyone who wakes up will be needing food and water. With Cinderella's magic shoes you can get around quickly. Go to the castle kitchens and see if you can make up some food for everyone."

"I can do that," Virginia said. And the shoes took her away at once.

The kitchen of course wasn't empty. It had a small retinue of cooks and servants present who had all fallen asleep while working, sometimes on the floor, sometimes into casseroles. But as far as Virginia could tell they were all alive. So, she put on an apron and began to go through cupboards and ice boxes to look for foods that hadn't spoiled. "The next thing Dad should invent is refrigeration," Virginia said outloudr.

"Smoked meat would be a treat!" sang the singing ring.

"And warmed cider for a touch of sweet.

With Potatoes fried to a golden tan

That will bring a smile to any man."

"You've been around Wolf too long," Virginia said. "I know what to make. I was a waitress, remember? I guess I am again. I even dreamed of opening my own restaurant once. But I never imagined anything like this." Virginia gently adjusted the hand of a kitchen scullion so she could take the potato peeler she was holding. "I should probably also make some simpler things like oatmeal."

It was strange cooking around a kitchen full of sleeping people. But Virginia managed it handily. Then with the help of Cinderella's shoes she started distributing the food to the awakening people of the castle. Cinderella was one of the first people they'd woken up because of her age. She was very much feeling her age when Virginia appeared in her room with some warm oatmeal. The magic shoes glowed up a storm as soon as they were in her presence.

"I think your shoes are saying hello," Virginia said.

"Have they been with you all this time?" Cinderella asked, tiredly trying to pat her red hair back into place after her very long sleep. She considered asking for a hand mirror and brush, but thought better of it. No one was going to be looking at her that hard after waking up from a curse.

"They kind of showed up," Virginia said, fitting a tray on the older woman's lap. "They've been taking me all over the place."

"They probably needed the outing after all these years. I'm glad they've been helping out."

"Do…do you want them back," Virginia asked. "Right now, I mean?"

"No. They can't do anything for me right now. You should keep them till we get things handled. When it's time to come back, they'll return on their own."

"Oh," was all that Virginia could say to that. She knew she would miss the slippers. They gave her so much freedom. "I promised to get back to Leaf Fall's daughters later today."

"Then you'll certainly need them for that. If Leaf Fall feels anything like I do, she's not going to feel up to doing much traveling and explaining."

After everyone was awake and fed, Virginia traveled back to the Seventh Kingdom with Leaf Fall to help her sort through things with Forsythia. But not before finding out from Tony what he intended to do back in New York. She wasn't very happy about it. "This sounds entirely too dangerous to me," she said.

"You think I like it?" Tony asked. "And Matilde. She's every bit as unhappy as you are. If she were feeling better, we'd probably have a big fight about it. But we each have our own responsibilities. You promised to be Leaf Fall's Second, so you have to stay here and help her and her daughter take care of the Seventh Kingdom. Wolf promised to look after the Second Kingdom. And as the President of the Council of the Nine Kingdoms, Matilde is sworn to look after things here. Raphaela thinks getting rid of Mazarin is the only way to keep the Nine Kingdoms safe. Since she was killed by him in the first place, I can't blame her. All I know is she shouldn't have to do it alone or with some stranger. So, I guess I've got to go. Besides I might have been able to prevent all this. If I'd only taken a closer look at Clayface's carving."

"Be careful."

"I will. You know I will."

- - - - - - - - - -

When Matilde's carriage appeared in front of Wendell's castle Rose and her troops gathered around it cheering. They knew it meant that Queen Matilde had been awakened and that the terrible days of the curse would end shortly.

Tony got out of the carriage first, followed closely by Matilde and her Uncle Brutus. Tony extended his hand to both of them and helped them out of the magic vehicle. They were both a bit wobbly, but they were gaining strength quickly. Snow White appeared in their midst. She was still carrying Matilde's crystal. Raphaela floated out of the carriage after her great uncle.

Brutus had finally been told of Raphaela's existence. It was a surprise to him, but he had taken it in stride as someone who has lived in a magical world for seven hundred years would. He had seen just about everything there was to see. And considering everything, having a grandniece who was a cane, really wasn't all that unusual.

Since Snow White was a matriarch of the Fourth Kingdom, she was the one to speak to the crowd. She gestured for silence and said. "We have woken up everyone who was in the Snoozing Castle. Queen Matilde, Prince Brutus, and I will now do the same for everyone in this castle."

Rose's heart beat faster as realized Wendell would be awake soon!

"We will ask the Mirror of Truth to look out over the Nine Kingdoms to find for us the people who have been weakened the most by the curse and awaken them. Then we'll go around through the kingdoms one by one. Each time we cast the spell we'll become more able to turn it back. It should take at most a couple of days. Meanwhile, Lord Lewis will journey to the land in his world that Mazarin has taken over and try to help them take it back. Spread the word if you can that help is on the way. The curse is almost over!"

Everyone around the castle cheered, including the three troll children and Lady Felicity. Even Baby let out a roar of approval. She still loved Mazarin, but she was happy to know that her friends the trolls would be all right.

The only ones not caught up in the sudden excitement were the unicorns. The lead unicorn stepped forward and bowed to Snow White.

"Hello," Snow said, reaching out to pat the unicorn's single horn. "What are you doing here?"

"Begging your pardon, your Majesty," Lieutenant Burke said, appearing at Snow's side. "They helped us fight against the hsigo and the satyrs."

"The hsigo and the satyrs? When I left there was a group of humans attacking the castle."

"They killed my brother!" Lady Felicity yelled from her spot next to Burly.

"Which explains why you switched sides," Snow White said. "You look like you've been fighting."

"There was some kind of alliance between the man from the Fifth Kingdom who was leading the attack against the castle and the hsigo and satyrs," Rose said.

"What is this man's name?"

"Victor," Felicity said. "He said he'd been sent by Gavrilo, the Chancellor of the Fifth Kingdom because Gavrilo believed that the wolves were working with Mazarin. The regular army men of the Fifth Kingdom left after the magic barrier when up. So Victor called in the hsigo and satyrs to finish the battle."

"Victor," Snow White said. "After we have seen to all of our people we will search him out."

"And bring him before the Council of the Nine Kingdoms for questioning," Matilde finished. "We will have a talk with Chancellor Gavrilo as well."

"We can leave that to Cole when he awakes. The Chancellor is really his problem to deal with. But what of the unicorns?" The lead unicorn had stepped closer to Snow White by then and she was petting his muzzle as he made a series of soft noises. "He seems to be trying to say something."

"I remember something," Tony said. "Wolf said this guy Kai had power over unicorns and griffins."

The lead unicorn turned around at the mention of Kai's name.

"Is this true?" Snow White asked the unicorn.

The unicorn nodded deeply.

"I give you the power of human speech," Snow White said, circling her hand around the unicorn's head."

"Th…th…thank you!" the unicorn stuttered as he tried out human speech for the first time. "We've been traveling a long time. We wanted to tell you that the sea may be safe from the curse. And that if you couldn't find a way to end it that perhaps Master Kai could. He's in the land that Mazarin said he would take over. Mazarin stole Master Kai's mirror. We were guarding it in the North Sea with the help of the The Griffin. But the curse took The Griffin. We didn't understand till too late that the curse could kill. We thought it would be like Sleeping Beauty's curse and that he would sleep peacefully till we found someone to reverse the spell. We're sorry. If we had known, we would have found some way to warn you. The Griffin was our interpreter. We lost our voice when he died."

"You have done very well," Snow White said. "I'm sure your master would be proud of you. Lord Lewis here is going to see him now. He'll let him know what you've done here."

"Tha…thank you."

"Tony, you'd better go," Snow White said. "The rest of us have a lot of work to do here. We're expecting a large retinue of Ice Maidens and elves to join us here shortly. We need their help to spread the word that the curse will be ended soon. It will help everyone hold on."

Tony slipped his arm around Matilde and pulled her close. "You sure you'll be all right?" he asked.

"Before the night's over I'm sure I'll be just as bossy as ever," she said.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Tony kissed her as the others politely looked away. Then Tony took the crystal from Snow White and called Raphaela to follow him.


	33. Chapter 33 Last Chance for Treachery

**CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE**

**Last Chance for Treachery**

Not everyone was happy that the curse was about to come to an end.

An elf sent by the newly awakened Leaf Fall came late that afternoon to tell Gavrilo the news that the curse would be ending shortly. The elf also stressed that the wolves had not been involved with Mazarin as had been rumored around the Fifth Kingdom.

Gavrilo took the news properly, his broad face as stern as always. He was flanked by Sergeant Tarquin on one side and Lord Marmion on the other. They were wearing stern faces of their own.

"I am happy that the curse will be over soon," Gavrilo said. "And that Snow White and Queen Matilde are well. If they say that the wolves were not involved with Mazarin, I believe it. But…" He tossed his thick gray and brown hair with an attitude of one who will only go so far. "I will never trust the wolves because I know they are a treacherous bunch. Just because they were not involved in this last bit of trouble, it doesn't mean they can be trusted."

Of course there was nothing else the elf could say. Prejudice is a habit that is hard to break. So he left to continue spreading the news that the curse would be ending soon.

Gavrilo was not happy. His plan to take over the Fifth Kingdom wasn't complete yet. And Snow White and Queen Matilde were active again and sending emissaries around the Nine Kingdoms. That told him that Victor's attack against Wendell's castle had either failed, or been stopped by Snow White and Matilde. He hadn't asked the elf about it because it would've betrayed his hand too much. The only thing Gavrilo could do was retire to his rooms and hope the hsigo would contact him shortly.

Shortly after dinner, the leader of the hsigos flew into Gavrilo's room, landing heavily on the floor in exhaustion. "The humans retreated when the she-wolf managed to put up a temporary magic barrier," he panted. "So Victor sent us in. It went well for a while, but…they had a dragon!" The hsigo squeaked at the memory of Baby and her fiery breath. His furry fingers gestured wildly as he told the rest of the story. "The fire breathing monster swept our people out of the Fourth Kingdom without any trouble. Later the satyrs were driven off by the sudden appearance of soldiers from the Fourth Kingdom and a herd of unicorns! Unicorns! They hardly ever leave the North Sea! We were chased right out of Wendell's Kingdom. We're now cowering in a forest just inside the border of this kingdom. Many of our people are dead. Many others are seriously injured. What do we do now?"

"It gets worse," Gavrilo said. "The curse is about to end. It will take them a couple of days to get to everyone. But they are coming to wake up King Cole tomorrow morning. They know I was involved in sending the human soldiers against Wendell's castle, even though they aren't saying so. But they don't seem to know of my connection to you. If they did, they probably would have arrested me on the spot. Our people are hated even more than the wolves. We've got to take action tonight. It's very possible that Cole will try and remove me as Chancellor after his mother's ghost fills him in on what's been happening. So I must remove him as king before he wakes up. This is our last chance."

"What do we do?" the hsigo squawked.

"I will say that I've had a message that the hsigo and satyrs have been sent against us by the wolves of the Fourth Kingdom. The castle is mostly empty, so no one will know that's not true. I will send out a small retinue of soldiers to supposedly attack you and you will flee without putting up much of a fight. I will play it up later and make it sound bigger than it was. You will go to the west border of the Fifth Kingdom and cross over into the deserts near the great barrier between the Nine Kingdoms and the home of our Mistress Xian. No one will want to follow you there. This very night I will make a challenge for Cole's throne on the basis of your supposed attack. And when he wakes I will send him packing. Queen Rapunzel's ghost will have to follow him."

"It will be as you say," the hsigo said. And he headed for the window where he'd come in.

"Before you go…what happened with that fool Barron and his sister?"

"I saw his body. It was covered with stab wounds. And I saw Victor holding a jeweled knife and he was covered in the human's blood. I don't know why he did it, but I assume it isn't important to us. As for the sister, I heard from the satyrs that she fought against us in the company of a couple of trolls."

"I'm sure she's already told Snow White and Queen Matilde all about Victor. They will find him and question him as soon as they can. He's the only one who knows of my connection to the hsigo and satyrs. Do you know where Victor is?"

"He's with us in the forest."

"Good. You'll have to kill him. Make it look like an attack. I will say he died in defense of the Fifth Kingdom. Now go."

The hsigo did as he was told and Gavrilo closed the window after him. "There is much to do," the satyr said to himself.

- - - - - - - - - -

Camus, the wolf who so much wanted to see Wolf taken down and the Second Kingdom taken over was also disappointed that the curse was about to end. He and his followers had joined with Rose to defend the Fourth Kingdom because it had been the first to defend their kind. But if they were going to somehow make the Second Kingdom theirs, they had to work fast. As soon as Snow White and her group went to wake up Wendell, Camus called a meeting of his followers in the woods.

"We've got to leave at once," Camus said, shaking his spotted nose. "This is our last chance. A group of us will have to persuade one of the Ice Maidens to take us to the Second Kingdom. They're supposed to be coming in soon to help Snow White and Queen Matilde. We can tell them that we want to help Wolf. There will be so much confusion that we won't have any trouble being believed. Now is the time! We've got to face Wolf and challenge him for his position as alpha. Then we can take the Second Kingdom before Queen Red wakes up."

There was a rumble of uncertainty.

"What if Queen Matilde finds out and comes after us?" a gray and white wolf asked.

"Even if we win, won't she just come in and take the kingdom back?" a quarter wolf with bland hair asked.

"Will we be able to do it in time?" an almost black wolf asked.

"If we leave soon we can finish this tonight," Camus said. "Queen Matilde and the Ice Maidens will have their hands full with ending of the curse for some time. If they come after us later, we'll be ready for them and we'll fight to maintain our new kingdom."

"What do we do with Wolf?" a particularly nervous old half wolf asked. "A lot of our people think of him as a hero. And what about his newborn son?"

"They will see us as leaders after we have a kingdom of our own. And as for the young prince Anthony, he will meet the same end as his father. As long as he lives, there's a chance he will take up where his father left off. Now listen! We have a right to bring Wolf down because he and his cub are weak. We've got to move now if we want to stop him! Benjamin…" Camus poked his snout roughly at the reddish gray wolf just to his left. You fought well today in defense of Wendell's castle. They will see you as a hero looking to do more heroic work. No one will question it if you ask the Ice Maidens for help in getting to Red's castle."

"Perhaps it should be someone older," a tan wolf suggested. "Age may command more respect."

"No one commands greater respect from an Ice Maiden than another warrior," Camus insisted.

They were so involved in their discussion that none of them noticed as Rubin backed away into the dense laurels behind them. His dark gray color blended so well into the shadows they'd hardly known he was there to begin with. Once he was out of earshot, he started into a run back to Wendell's castle. He had to find Timka!

- - - - - - - - - -

Gavrilo came running from the back of the first floor of King Cole's castle as fast as his boot-clad hooves could carry him. "Raise the alarm!!" he shouted, shaking his craggy black staff. "Call the army to attention! They have to leave at once!"

His calls weren't answered immediately. Most of the people in the castle had gone to bed early to enjoy the first restful sleep they'd had in a long while, secure in the knowledge that the curse would soon be over. Even Rapunzel's ghost was quiet. Gavrilo knew this would wake her up, but he didn't care. He wouldn't have to be bothered with her much longer.

Lord Marmion was the first to reach Gavrilo. "What is it, your Grace?"

"Raise the alarm!" Gavrilo bellowed as loudly as he could. "I've just had word from Victor that the wolves of the Fourth Kingdom have sent the hsigo and satyrs against us. They're near the border. Call Sergeant Tarquin and his men to arms."

"But they've only just come back this afternoon from helping our people along the northern border of the kingdom." He glanced nervously at the crowd that was beginning to gather around them.

"Well, they've got to go out again! Even if they're tired. The very survival of the kingdom is at stake! I don't have to tell you how ruthless and dangerous the hsigo and satyrs are."

The faces of everyone became fearful.

"The Huntsman kept them under control, but he's gone now. Wendell obviously doesn't like to keep his animal friends under control. Go! At once! Our survival depends on it."

Lord Marmion began nodding. He continued nodding as he ran toward the front of the castle where the largest group of troops were gathered. He scooped up Sergeant Tarquin on the way. Everyone else went off in different directions to spread the news of this new threat.

Nobody noticed the smile that came to Gavrilo's lips as they ran off.

- - - - - - - - - -

Benjamin the reddish gray wolf convinced one of the younger Ice Maidens that a group of the wolves wanted to help Wolf in the Second Kingdom. "Because everything here in the Fourth Kingdom seems to be under control," he said.

Odila, the young Ice Maiden, in question hadn't had much experience in the field. She only knew that the wolves were allies and that they had fought bravely just hours before with Queen Rose to maintain the Fourth Kingdom. Benjamin's request seemed reasonable to her. She walked with them to the edge of the forest not far from where Camus and his followers had met earlier. She was just about to scatter travel dust over them when Rubin ran up.

"Wait!" Rubin yelled. "Timka is coming!"

"Timka?" Benjamin asked with surprise.

"Why?" Camus asked, stepping forward. He had been acting till then as if Benjamin were the leader of this group for the benefit of young Odila the Ice Maiden.

"Because…" Timka said coming to a stop next to his full blooded wolf friend, "I am a direct blood member of Wolf's pack and it is my duty…" he glanced towards Odila to make it clear to the others that his next words were for her benefit. "It is my duty to help my uncle. You all know how strongly I felt about Wolf going to the Second Kingdom alone."

Benjamin opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Camus was afraid to raise objections in front of the Ice Maiden.

"Of course," Odila said, shifting her boot clad feet impatiently. "I've got to get going or my Sergeant will come looking for me soon. Is that it?" She glanced around and saw no one else approaching. "Everyone needs to hold hands…or whatever."

Timka threaded his fingers into Rubin's and Benjamin's fur. The rest completed the circle around Odila. She then sprinkled the traveling dust over them. In the next second they were inside Red Riding Hood the Third's castle.

"Here you are," Odila said. "I've got to get back now." And she was gone.

"What do you think you're doing?" Camus said, stalking toward Timka.

Rubin slipped in front of Timka in a protective stance, his eyes narrowing at Camus.

"Wolf is a full blood member of my pack," Timka said. "According to wolf law, I have the greater claim to challenge him before anyone else does."

"That's true," the tan wolf said.

The other wolves nodded their agreement. Except for Camus, that is. He had hoped that Benjamin would be the one to challenge Wolf. He knew a blood member of Wolf's pack would be less likely to kill him and Camus wanted Wolf out of the way permanently. Still, it was wolf law and he couldn't go against it publicly. Not when he'd been telling the others all along that this was about wolf law.

In making this challenge Timka was putting himself in as second alpha over Anthony. Even if Timka lost to Wolf this time, anyone who fought Wolf in the future would have to challenge Timka before they could challenge Anthony.

A couple of maids carrying bed linens suddenly came out of an adjoining corridor. They were surprised to see a group of wolves arguing. Timka pushed aside the others and stepped up to the maids. Rubin followed right behind him. "I'm here to see my uncle!" Timka demanded. "Prince Wolf. Go get him. NOW!"

The maids hesitated.

"Wolf! I want to see Wolf! Tell him his nephew Timka has come to challenge him!!"

The two maids glanced at each other nervously and then fled back in the direction they'd come from. Minutes later Wolf came down to meet them. He was dressed in pajamas and a red satin robe as if he'd been about to go to bed. Like most people in the Nine Kingdoms, he'd been feeling relieved at the news that the curse was about to end and he had been thinking that the earlier he got to bed, the earlier he could hand the Second Kingdom back to his cousin the next morning.

"Timka," Wolf said, his eyes wide. "You scared those poor maids silly. They said you wanted to 'challenge' me? Huff-puff what's this all about?"

Timka's dark eyes flashed. "Wolf, I challenge you for your position as alpha over our people!"

"Alpha? Who said I was alpha?"

"You have been made prince and now you're the acting king of this kingdom. But I don't think you deserve to be king!"

"Neither do I. That's why I'm looking forward to giving it up tomorrow. Between you and me this place is a bit like a prison. I've only been doing it because it's my duty to protect our family's interests."

"I challenge you to battle, using swords as a weapon."

"Swords?" For the first time Wolf looked past his nephew to the other wolves standing behind him. He recognized Camus the trouble maker and young Rubin. The rest he wasn't familiar with, but he knew a wolf pack when he saw one. They were serious. "Since you're challenging me, don't I get to choose the weapon?"

"NO! I'm choosing! You taught me how to use a sword. It's only fair that you should lose your kingdom to one."

"…Lose my kingdom," Wolf repeated. "You want to take over Cousin Red's kingdom?"

"I am from the House of Red as well! You yourself argued it before the Council. I claim your throne and your position as alpha!"

Wolf tightened the sash of his red satin robe. "All right. But you all have to give me your solemn wolf word that if I beat you, you will go and leave this kingdom to our cousin."

"You have our word," Timka said, speaking as the leader. "And if I win, you will give us your solemn word to leave this kingdom to us. You can take our cousin and go to the Fourth Kingdom."

"I agree," Wolf said.

"Then we'll meet you in front of the castle in fifteen minutes."

"Fine. I'll see you're given a sword."

Wolf watched as Timka led his group of followers away.

The outline of Ichabod's ghostly form appeared next to Wolf. "What are you going to do? You can't fight him. You've got to call out the guard. What's left of them, I mean. Most of them are out looking to the needs of the kingdom."

"Exactly," Wolf said turning himself sharply around and striding back toward his room to prepare for battle.

Ichabod floated after him. "You're not going to do this," he whispered loudly.

"Yes."

"But he's obviously a deranged young man. I'm sorry to have to say that, your being his uncle and all. But he obviously is. Didn't you see his dark flashing eyes and the way he kept clenching his fists? He's trying to take my Dear Queen's kingdom."

Ichabod faded out a touch as he heard one of the few night guards running down the corridor toward them.

"Your Majesty!" the guard said. "I heard…"

"Yes, my nephew has challenged me to a sword duel. Don't worry. Wolves challenge each other from time to time to make sure an alpha is really worthy. Nothing to worry about. I promised my nephew I would meet him out front in fifteen minutes and that I would have someone give him a sword. Do it."

"But, your Majesty…"

"Just stand back and let me handle this. If one of the other wolves interferes, though, you have my permission to step in with full force."

"You're sure, your Majesty?"

"Absolutely."

"Yes, your Majesty." And the guard ran off in the same direction as Timka and the other wolves.

"What if he kills you?" Ichabod asked appearing right in front of Wolf.

"He won't. Wolves of the same blood sometimes battle for dominance, but they usually don't kill each other." Wolf stepped around Ichabod's angular form and continued to his room, again with Ichabod floating behind.

"Usually."

"At least not if they're from the same pack." Wolf had finally come to his room. The door was still open. He tossed it closed and started putting on more battle-worthy attire.

Ichabod floated through the closed door after him, wringing his ghostly hands with worry. "You're sure he won't kill you? He said you'd taught him how to use a sword."

"Well…that's sort of true," Wolf said. "I tried to teach him, but Timka hates swords. He prefers bows and arrows and he's very good with them. Huff puff, if he'd tried to force me into a duel at twenty paces with a crossbow I'd be sausage. I don't have his aim. But I can use a sword almost as well as my sister Rose."

"Your sister?" Ichabod was really worried now. Of course he'd seen Rose on the battlefield of The Giant War just as he was dying, but he'd always assumed her position in the army had been largely honorary. Since then, he'd seen her at a few royal dinners and she'd always been dressed in frothy gowns with perfectly coifed tresses, often sitting by his Dear Queen's side. Of course, he didn't know how hard Lord Rupert had worked to get her to dress like that. To Ichabod, Rose looked like a delicate fairy tale princess. He was gratified for the great kindness she always showed his Dear Queen, but he couldn't imagine her raising a sword.

"Yes," Wolf said, leaning over to pull up his boots. "Rose is one of Wendy's best swordsmen. And she's made sure that I've improved too. She tried teaching Timka, but he refused to work with her. I worked with him separately a little and he did well enough, but he didn't have any interest in practicing. He's a hunter. And swords are made for fighting. Timka's choice of swords as a weapon means he intends for me to win. He's been so mad at me lately, though, I don't think he'll let me win easily."

"And this is what you're basing the survival of my kingdom on?" Ichabod asked fearfully. "Wouldn't it be easier to call in some more guards and have them all arrested?"

"As you pointed out, we don't have a lot of guards. And that wolf with the spotted snout has been dying to get me out of the way and take over Cousin Red's kingdom. If Camus had his way they would probably just kill me, and then go for Cousin Red and my son Anthony. This is the best way to handle it, with a proper alpha challenge. It will put the whole thing to rest…at least for a while."

Ichabod groaned, but said no more. He disappeared as Wolf went down to meet Timka, but Wolf knew the ghost was still floating around somewhere.

The guard Wolf had talked to earlier had given Timka a sword by then. He was already standing outside with two other guards and they were watchful and ready to intervene if necessary.

Timka was unknowingly standing in the spot where the trolls had once prepared to burn Queen Red the Third. He had his sword raised in front of him, letting the nearby torches glitter over its sharp edges. The other wolves had stepped back to a respectful distance. From their relaxed stance, Wolf was pretty certain they intended to let things play out according to wolf law, But he was pretty certain old Camus would have preferred it differently.

"Timka," Wolf said, raising his sword.

"Uncle," Timka said coldly.

The two circled each other cautiously at first to feel each other out. Then Timka took the first swipe and the battle began in earnest. Wolf was surprised to feel so much power behind Timka's blows. The young man had grown and gained strength in the months since they'd last done this. Using a bow and arrow and hunting in the woods had done a lot to increase Timka's muscles. Hunting had also taught him to wait for the right moment. He seemed to like to build a steady rhythm, letting his opponent get used to it. Then he would suddenly change both rhythm and tactics. It was a technique that could easily throw off an opponent and cause him to make a mistake. If Wolf had not been the better swordsmen, Timka might have beaten him.

Timka came close to hurting Wolf several times. His clothes were nicked and his arms were scratched. But Timka had been nicked even more and the smell of his blood was in the air, telling all the other wolves who was likely to be the loser in this fight.

As it turned out, Rose's fondness for "springs" in practice is what finally won the battle. Timka was building up his rhythm again, which meant that a change in approach was coming soon. This time Wolf was the one who made the change. He feinted in one direction, dropped down to the ground in the other, and then sprang up in time to plant the tip of his sword in Timka's back.

Wolf's sharp blade easily cut through Timka's clothing and into his skin. Timka felt pain, but he knew the blade would go no further if he gave up the fight. So he threw down his sword in a sign of surrender.

"A wise move," Wolf panted. "Now go! I don't want to see you or your group around here again."

Benjamin, the reddish gray wolf nodded. Camus growled. Timka didn't turn around to look at his uncle. He walked to the other wolves and led them away.

- - - - - - - -

Sergeant Tarquin's soldiers came back very late that night from their battle with the hsigo and satyrs. They were tired but happy. Their enemies had been chased to the barren deserts to the west. Many of the farmers and townspeople along the route going and coming had run out to hear the news of the battle and had followed them back to the castle. Despite the late hour, Gavrilo called for them all to gather around a podium he'd had Lord Marmion put up in the front gardens. When everyone was arranged he climbed up it with difficulty and leaned heavily on his craggy black staff.

"Tell us the tale!" Sergeant Tarquin yelled.

"Yes! Tell us the tale!" the rest of the crowd answered. "Tell us the tale!"

"Once upon a time…" Gavrilo began. "King Cole bowed down to the wolves and certain members of the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. They dragged us into a war that had nothing to do with us. It interfered with harvest time and cost way too much in blood and money. It left us all poorer. But King Cole didn't care about us. In fact, he invited one of the wolves here to flaunt his new found importance. Then King Cole and the Council failed to notice that Mazarin had escaped. They let him send a curse down on all of us right at the beginning of what should have been planting time. And then this evening, King Cole wolf friends sent their friends the hsigos and satyrs to attack us! Probably trying to take over our kingdom. But our brave men fought back and despite a terrible battle, they chased those animals to the deserts beyond our kingdom, never EVER to return!"

The crowd cheered and the men immediately around Sergeant Tarquin patted him on the back.

"Of course, this came at a price," Gavrilo said more quietly. "Some of our men lost their lives in defense of our kingdom. Including a man named Victor, who was trying to keep an eye on the wolves of the Fourth Kingdom. He bravely warned me of the attack so that I could send our army out against our enemies."

The crowd properly bowed their heads at the mention of Victor and the others who would never come home.

"King Cole should not have bowed down to the wolves and their friends on the Council. He should have taken care of his own instead of bleeding us dry for the sake of the Fourth and Second Kingdoms. I fought him all I could, but he was indifferent to my warnings."

"Gavrilo has shown great wisdom!" Sergeant Tarquin yelled. "He led us through the curse and stopped our enemies tonight by acting quickly!"

The crowd murmured its agreement.

"Gavrilo fights for us!" Tarquin said, "He is King of Courage!"

Again the crowd agreed.

"Who are you?" Tarquin asked Gavrilo.

"I am not royalty," Gavrilo said, trying to look humble by leaning more heavily on his staff. "I am the descendent of servants. My goal is to serve, as my ancestors did."

"Gavrilo has passed the three tests of royalty!" Tarquin said, "But Cole has failed them all. Gavrilo must be our king!"

The crowd roared its appreciation. "Gavrilo must be king! Gavrilo must be king!! Gavrilo MUST be king!!"

The ghost of Rapunzel heard all of this from the window of her son's room on the other side of the castle. But there was nothing she could do. Even Lord Marmion seemed to have forsaken her. She cried, but the sound of her sobs were lost in the yell of the crowds below.


	34. Chapter 34 The Tale of Irem

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR**

**The Tale of Irem**

When Tony stepped into Central Park with Raphaela in one hand and Matilde's crystal in the other, he wasn't at all sure what he'd find. The first thing he noticed were throngs of people hanging around makeshift tents. Some of them had been caught in Manhattan by Mazarin's takeover and had decided to set up housekeeping in the park. They were too caught up in their own issues to notice Tony, though a couple of them did look at him twice because of his resemblance to their captor.

As he moved out of the park Tony noticed how quiet it was. There were very few cars on the roads and many of the roads had been magically turned into gardens. Gasoline was a rare commodity, limited to only what had been on the island at the time of Mazarin's takeover. As a result, bus traffic had been stopped. And the subway trains had been stopped because of the intermittent power outages. Many of the stores were shuttered, but not all of them. Some people were trying to go on with business as usual. And there were a lot of people on the street because the weather was beginning to get hot and there wasn't much air conditioning.

In some ways it was bucolic with people tending gardens on Fifth Avenue. But not quite. On every block there were incredible piles of garbage that easily wiped out the pleasant scent of warm greenery. It was as bad as anything Tony had ever seen through the various garbage strikes that had taken place over the years.

About a block from his old apartment a strange woman somewhere in her thirties ran up to him. "Master!" she cried. Then she threw herself down on her knees at his feet, not caring what the dirt of the sidewalk would do to her pale yellow dress. "You've returned!"

"You must be a member of the Murray family," Tony said.

Raphaela pulled out of Tony's hand and tapped impatiently on the sidewalk. She was remaining in the form of a cane to conserve energy for her confrontation with Mazarin. But she was not happy that Tony was allowing this woman to prostrate herself.

"Yes, yes" Tony said to Raphaela. "Miss, please get up."

"But how can I," the young woman said, bobbing up briefly. "I am not worthy to stand in your presence."

Raphaela tapped again.

"Yes, you are. I command you to get up."

"If you command it, Master, I will obey." The young woman got up, but she still kept her head bowed. "The others will be so happy to see you! They've longed for this day. To be reunited with you, to serve you, and kiss your…"

"Yeah, well, there won't be any kissing today." Tony glanced nervously at his stepdaughter who was floating on end waiting for them to resume their journey. He wasn't sure if he'd ever mentioned the kissing part of his dragon dung bean wish to anyone, although with her special powers Raphaela probably knew. By this time he'd convinced himself that the kissing part of his wish had only been a figure of speech. The memory of it was just too embarrassing. "Tell all the rest of your family as well. It's my order. There will be no kissing. At all!"

"Yes, Master. Whatever you say. Your wish is our…"

"Yes, yes. We were just on our way to my apartment. We were hoping to find that guy Kai."

"He is serving you well, Master. He has been staying in your apartment. And we have been helping him work against the imposter who has your face. Your mother-in-law is there as well."

"My mother-in-law?" It was bad enough having some ex of Matilde's who looked like him put the whole city under a curse. Did he have to face Christine's mother too?

"We knew you would want us to watch over her. She is staying in your daughter's room with her dog."

"Yeah, well, I guess it can't be helped."

"Do you want us to make her leave, Master?"

"No. Virginia would never forgive me. "

Raphaela tapped impatiently again.

"We'd better be going. It's starting to get dark. What's your name?"

"My name is Shannon, Master."

"OK…Shannon. I've got to get to my apartment. You can go and do whatever it was you were doing."

"But, Master, I would so much prefer being with you. Please, Master!"

She looked like she was going to fall down on her knees again, so Tony relented. "OK," he said. "But let's get going." Tony reached out for Raphaela who was getting ready to tap again.

Shannon followed discretely behind Tony. But as soon as they reached the apartment building she flew up the stairs to announce his coming to her family. When Tony approached his old apartment he found a small contingency of Murray's, including Mr. Murray himself, waiting at the door.

"Master!" Mr. Murray said. He and the rest of the Murray's started to lower themselves to the ground but Tony stopped them.

"Please, no groveling!"

"But, Master," Mr. Murray said looking quite distraught. "How are we to welcome you after such a long time? Shannon said you weren't allowing any kissing."

"They're obviously crazy," Tony said to Raphaela.

"Crazy with devotion for you, Master."

Kai pushed his way past all the Murray's to Tony. "Here you are at last! I was hoping someone would come from the Nine Kingdoms. You're Matilde's husband Tony, right?"

"Yes, that's me. And you must be Kai."

"Is Matilde with you? Or her Uncle Brutus?"

"No. They had to stay behind and stop the spread of Mazarin's curse."

"He cursed the Nine Kingdoms?"

"With a sleeping curse that slowly kills its victims with dehydration and starvation. But we managed to get the requisite number of people to break the curse. Snow White, Matilde, and Brutus." Tony's voice fell to a whisper and he held up the leather satchel he was carrying. "Chu'Mana said she is going to break Mazarin's hold over New York."

- - - - - - - - - -

It took a while to calm down all the excited Murray's. Then Tony had to do the obligatory visit with Virginia's grandmother. It wasn't as bad as Tony feared. Since her soap operas still weren't reliably on, she was spending the majority of her time drinking even more champagne than usual. The Murrays were delighted to supply it for her. She was way too drunk to focus on Tony's shortcomings. She was more interested in complaining about the loss of her programs. Also, Tony had some good news for her. He was able to tell her that Virginia had given birth to a healthy boy and that both of them were doing well. This was wonderful news to Virginia's grandmother. She had been afraid that Virginia would go in the same downward spiral that had claimed Christine.

"Then, she wasn't…troubled by the birth?" Virginia's grandmother asked.

"There was a little bit of depression afterwards," Tony said honestly. "But it faded within a few days. When I left she was thoroughly involved in…in good works."

"That's wonderful!" Virginia's grandmother said. Her face softened more than it had in years. "I can't tell you how glad I am. For all of you. The only thing I can wish for now is that General Hospital would come back on."

Mr. Kai's coven had also been at Tony's apartment when he'd arrived. But Kai had urged them to go up to Mr. Murray's apartment so Tony could rest. Later the two men talked over a light dinner in the kitchen. At Kai's request, Chu'Mana was silently present on the white cloth that Matilde often carried with her. Raphaela was resting in Tony's room. Tony hadn't introduced her officially to Kai since she wanted to save as much of her power as possible, but he did explain her existence over dinner.

"So, that's what happened to Matilde's daughter," Kai said. He broke up his bread into several pieces, but didn't eat any of it.

Their dinner was bread, cheese, and salad, because Mazarin and his followers weren't able to provide much else to their captives. The Murray's were regular members of Mazarin's work details and so kept everyone working out of Tony's apartment well fed. They felt it was their duty to provide for everyone connected to their Master.

"I had an amulet that I waved over the cane when your daughter Virginia came and it glowed with a green light." Kai pulled the amulet in question out of his pocket and laid it on the table near Tony. "It only glows when it's in the presence of someone or something magic. Green signifies healing."

Tony picked up the amulet. In his hands it did nothing. But when he brought it close to Matilde's crystal to test it it threw out a rainbow of colors that reflected over the room.

"It's reflecting all the colors of Chu'Mana's magic," Kai said. "Chu'Mana…" He reached out and touched the cool surface of the crystal. "I'm so sorry. Once again you have to clean up my mess."

"Your mess?" Tony said. "Since when is this your mess?"

"Mazarin came here through the power of one of my mirrors. If I'd only made one perhaps this wouldn't have happened. Perhaps also Snow White's Stepmother, wouldn't have been able to lure Virginia's mother to the Nine Kingdoms and trained her as her successor."

"How were you supposed to know?" Tony said, pushing aside the remains of his salad. He'd never been all that keen on greenery except when it came in the form of money. "You were only trying to find your long lost love. That's what Wolf told us. He was quite taken with your story, you know. I guess it's very Nine Kingdoms."

"My poor Jennica. She died because her heart was broken with guilt."

"Guilt for what? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"Guilt for Chu'Mana's sacrifice and the banishment of so many people. Chu'Mana wasn't always in this form, you know."

"I know. I got a look at her real self in the Mirror of Truth. She didn't look much like you. You sure you're brother and sister."

"Oh, yes. We had the same father, but different mothers. Our father was a great and long lived king in the land of Irem."

"I think Matilde mentioned that place. She said her mother spoke of it."

"Irem is the land beyond the great barrier at the edge of the Fifth Kingdom. At one time, the Nine Kingdoms was part of it. My father had many wives, but only three of them had children, which actually is a fair amount. The longer a being lives, the less children it will generally have. My father lived a very long time. Longer than a human can ever imagine. Xian was the eldest and the heir to the throne of Irem. Chu'Mana came after her. And I as the baby was the one my father spoiled."

"I get it. And your oldest sister was jealous of you. That happens in a lot of families."

"It was more than that. As a Selkie, I have a fair amount of humanity. Humans were looked down on in Irem. And so were animals that carried too much human appearance. My sister Xian is a sphinx. She carries some human appearance too and was always ashamed of it. I think she was jealous of Chu'Mana because she didn't have any at all."

"So where did your lost love come in?"

"Jennica. She was a human with chestnut brown hair that swirled down around her white shoulders. Her voice was like music. And she had the kindest heart of any creature in the world. My sister Xian was not happy about our involvement. My father was gone by that time and she had taken over his throne. She demanded that I give Jennica up. But I refused. I was too young to realize that she was afraid my refusal would make her look weak to the rest of Irem and she was trying very hard to impress everyone.

"Xian had a quick temper and an immense ego. She told me that if I didn't give up Jennica she would destroy all the humans. And because I was young and foolish I still refused, even though Jennica had started to feel it might be best for everyone if we stayed apart. I didn't believe my sister would really move to harm me or anyone that I loved. And she didn't. At least not directly. Instead she started to persecute and mistreat all the other humans in Irem. She forced most of them into a life of slavery and hard labor. Any that resisted her were immediately executed. Jennica was horrified. She begged to part from me, but by that point Xian didn't care what we did. She said nothing could change her treatment of the humans. We had had our chance and it was too late.

"So my sister Chu'Mana stepped in. She told Xian that she had to stop the persecution of these weaker beings. Xian agreed, but at a price. All the humans were to be banned to the eastern most lands of Irem at the edge of the sea, along with any animals or magic creatures who had sympathy for them. There they could live in safety behind a magic barrier of her creation."

"So that's how that barrier came to be."

"Yes, but there was more. Xian thought that she was giving up a great deal. She expected Chu'Mana to give up something as well. I think she feared Chu'Mana because her power was greater and she was more loved by the people of Irem. Xian wanted Chu'Mana gone as well. And in payment for this 'kindness' she wanted Chu'Mana to give up her true form. 'If you love the humans and their sympathizers so much,' Xian said, 'then you should go with them. And you should serve them in another form. A form that you will not break. It will be an outward symbol of our promise. So long as you serve them in this form, I will respect the barrier and leave everyone on the other side in peace. If you return to your true form, it will break our agreement. And you will move on to the next level of existence.'"

"Xian sounds like a piece of work. Chu'Mana already told us how doing this would make her move on. Does this mean that Xian will take down the barrier?"

"No. At least I don't think so. She was more interested in keeping Chu'Mana under control or imprisoned. I don't see her re-taking control of the Nine Kingdoms unless it meets a need of her own."

"Let's hope it never does. She doesn't sound like someone I'd like to meet."

"So Chu'Mana took on the form of a magic crystal and gave herself into the hands of the Ice Fairies who disliked Xian. The Ice Fairies led the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the trolls, and the wolves to what is now the Nine Kingdoms."

"Wait…the wolves…like Wolf, my son-in-law? They were in sympathy with the humans?"

"Yes. The wolves and the magic bears worked for the royal court of Irem. The wolves felt the humans were a lot like them under the skin, so to speak. So, they sacrificed their position with the royal crown to come with the humans to what would eventually become the Nine Kingdoms. They thought they might become protectors of the humans the way they had acted as soldiers for the crown. The magic bears didn't much care for Xian, but they had felt great devotion for my father. So they stayed behind to care for his kingdom. Some wolves and some bears, of course, were caught on both sides of the barrier when Xian put it up. The same happened with a lot of other creatures, except for the humans. Xian made sure they were completely gone from her side."

"She sort of slammed the door behind you, huh?"

"Not exactly. There were two species of creatures that were magically bound to my sisters and I at birth. The hsigos and satyrs were bound to Xian. The dragons and a special species of toad were bound to Chu'Mana. And the sea unicorns and griffins were bound to me. Xian was angry that the griffins had been bound to me. She felt the griffins had the strength of the dragons and the intelligence of the satyrs. She thought it was proof that I was favored by our father and she didn't want all of them moving out of her sphere of influence. So she set the barrier up sooner than she promised in order to try and keep as many of the griffins on her side as possible. Through some kind of trickery she kept all but two on that side. The two that came with me were very close to me, like family. The female died young, not long after Jennica in fact. Only the male remains."

"Kai…I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you," Tony said interrupting. "We met with your unicorns just before we came here. Snow White gave their leader the power of human speech. He said that your griffin was the first to fall under Mazarin's curse. I'm sorry, but he died."

Kai looked stricken. "Baldr? Dead?"

"I'm afraid so."

Kai's dark eyes filled with tears. "Baldr. My old friend."

Tony let Kai sit and mourn for a while. Then he said, "I guess griffins live a long time."

"Yes. Yes, they do. Longer than most creatures. So there aren't that many of them."

"I'm sorry."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have been gone so long. I seem to bring hardship to everyone that I love. It was just that I was hoping…that someday…Jennica would return to me."

"What happened to her?"

"She blamed herself for everything that had happened to the humans. Many of them had trouble making the journey out of Irem. Many others were sick from the hardships they'd suffered under Xian. Jennica did her best to nurse the sick and minister to everyone. She simply ran herself down trying to be everything to everybody. Finally she contracted a disease from someone that she was trying to help. I tried to at least get her to enjoy our newfound freedom to love. But she couldn't. She said she couldn't allow herself to be happy until the rifts of our broken land had been healed. I can't believe that someone so good and kind won't get a chance for a Happily Ever After. Somehow I know she'll come back to me. The jinn I traded my few magical powers to said she would come here. I'm still hoping that's true and that my staying here and waiting for her has shown the loyalty the jinn said I would need to show."

It was a sad story Tony thought. He'd had his own experience with lost love and he'd come to believe that you usually didn't get a second chance. At least not with the same person. "And what happened with the wolves?"

"The wolves?" Kai ran his hand through his dark curls. "Over the generations the humans forgot what the wolves had given up in solidarity with them. And the wolves forgot about it too. The humans began to hate the wolves the way they'd been hated by my sister."

"And the trolls. What about them? Were they also sympathetic to the humans? How did they come to be in the Nine Kingdoms?"

"The trolls? They didn't exactly take sides. They came with the dragons. They worked as wranglers for them. They were the only ones who had an interest in trying to maintain the giant beasts outside of my sister, but there were so many dragons in those days. Too many for the trolls to handle. Without Chu'Mana the dragons became uncontrollable. So the dwarves and the humans started killing them off. Which in turn angered the trolls quite a bit. I suppose I should have done something, but I was too heartbroken over Jennica and the loss of most of the griffins." Kai touched the crystal again, tears returning to his eyes. "Chu'Mana…I'm so sorry."

- - - - - - - - - -

As most of the new Tenth Kingdom was settling in for the night, Zafira came to look in on its Lord and Master. Mazarin was once again seated in front of his makeshift altar in the room that he had taken over on the lower floor of what had once been the Empire State Building. Once again, he was fingering Baby's baby tooth and didn't even realize Zafira had come into the room, even though she hadn't been all that quiet about entering.

Zafira didn't say anything at first because she knew he wouldn't want to be disturbed and would refuse to do anything that she suggested anyway. She was tired of this. During the long years after The Magic War she had dreamed of Mazarin's return. She imagined how they would triumph at last over the Nine Kingdoms. And how they'd live Happily Ever After ruling over some other dimension. How different it had turned out.

They'd succeeded in casting a great spell upon the Nine Kingdoms, but that was their only real success. The taking of this new land had not gone well. The Garbage Rebellion, as the members of Mazarin's group had taken to calling it, had created a lot of trouble. The populace was constantly rebelling with seemingly larger numbers of people joining in. If Mazarin hadn't insisted on leaving three of their members on Hunter Island to watch over the curse, they might be able to put all of the Tenth Kingdom under a forgetfulness spell. Or maybe even a slave spell of some kind that would remove all trace of will from these impudent people. But Mazarin still wouldn't call back the three on Hunter Island for fear of the curse being compromised in the Nine Kingdoms. Zafira knew well that the first thing he'd want to do before putting the populace of the new Tenth Kingdom down would be to bring Baby over.

The worst thing, of course, was that Mazarin was now Zafira's lover in name only. It seemed Baby owned more of Mazarin's heart than she did. More than once Zafira had thought of returning secretly to the Nine Kingdoms to kill her dragon rival. But that was out of the question. Without her magical input, their coven might not have enough power to maintain the protective bubble around their new kingdom.

Zafira couldn't help but wonder if Mazarin would be happier still a prisoner in that other dimension with only Baby to keep him company. She also couldn't help but wonder if she would be happier then as well. Nothing she had done had won Mazarin's attention since he'd been back. When Cinderella's shoes had refused to do her bidding, she'd hoped against hope that the work she did here for him would finally get his attention. But instead he seemed to be brooding even more.

Zafira was tired of Mazarin's brooding. She was tired of coming in second to a dragon. And she was tired of living underground again like she'd had to for so long while hiding from Matilde and the Ice Maidens. She was a winged fairy with the power to turn into a bird. She wasn't a dwarf. She belonged to the sky.

Tonight she'd finally decided to enjoy herself. She'd come to Mazarin's room to urge him to join her in a night of revelry with several of their band at the Silver Wand Castle, which had once been the Chrysler Building. They had put a small protection spell around it to keep the Garbage Rebellion at bay. And at least she would be high up and have a good view of their new kingdom. The returning artificial lights were a sign of the people's rebellion, but at least they were pretty to look at. She had dressed herself in a black gown that she'd pilfered from one of the local stores and she'd piled her reddish brown hair high on her head.

"I'm going to the Silver Wand Castle," she told Mazarin. Her wings twitched impatiently while she waited for the answer that never came.

Mazarin put down Baby's tooth and picked up the piece of gray canvas that had been torn from his father's cape so long ago. He was remembering how much he'd hated his human father, as well as his father's human family. As far as he knew, his human family had died out long ago. It was only what they deserved, he thought. They were all weaklings like his father and they'd been as ashamed of him as he'd been ashamed of them. But he'd shown them all. He'd destroyed the Nine Kingdoms and taken over a new kingdom in a new place. He would never be the little man his father had been. He would always be the Master! He and his followers would crush the upstart humans of this dimension, first on this island and then beyond. They'd start immediately after he was reunited with Baby again. Until then, he vowed he would think of nothing else.

Tired of waiting for an answer, Zafira shut the door and left for the Silver Wand Castle. Mazarin didn't seem to notice her leaving any more than he'd noticed her arrival.


	35. Chapter 35 Mazarin Meets Himself

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE**

**Mazarin Meets Himself**

Tony, Kai, and the rest of the co-conspirators not involved in the continuing overnight Garbage Rebellion rested as they could and got up early the next morning. Nyota had a brother named Aron who was an actor. He put together an outfit similar to the ones they'd seen Mazarin wear in his magical contacts with the populace. He also handled Tony's make-up and hair pieces.

"You look very much like him," Kai said as Aron applied the final touches in Tony's room.

"So I'm told," Tony said with distaste. "You have no idea how unhappy that makes me. No man wants to look like his wife's ex, especially when he's a homicidal megalomaniac." Aron whipped away the make-up cloth that had been protecting Tony's costume with a theatrical flare and Tony looked at himself closer in the mirror. "Yuck. That's the best thing I can say about it."

"You know," Kai said, "since your daughter Virginia's visit, I've had some time to think about your resemblance to Mazarin."

"Don't tell me it's some kind of ironic twist of destiny."

"No. I think it's just a case of DNA."

"What?"

"Matilde would be able to tell you more about Mazarin's human family. But I know his father was human and his mother was an Ice Maiden. Sabirah watched over Mazarin and his father after the mother died, which is how I know the little I do about his background. The human side of Mazarin's family became as unpopular as Mazarin did over time, not because of anything they did, but because of the nasty doings of their most famous family member. Their unpopularity led to their decrease because no one wanted them marrying into their family. At some point they came down to Dorothea around the time of Cinderella."

"Dorothea?"

"Yes. She was living in the Fourth Kingdom at the time that Wilhelm Grimm blundered into one of my mirrors in what would eventually become Central Park. Wilhelm was on holiday from law school and in the company of a groomsmen named John Krause from New York. Krause was acting as his guide. I had not yet started staying in New York full time yet and I had foolishly left one of my mirrors on after coming here. Wilhelm and John accidentally walked through it and ended up in Dragon Mountain in one of the dwarf mirror rooms without a clue as to how they'd come to be there. All three mirrors were still being kept with the dwarves then.

"Of course the two men were confused and terrified. They were captured by the dwarves and handed over to the Fourth Kingdom for questioning. The dwarves were afraid the two men were spies of some kind from the Fifth Kingdom who'd come there to learn their mirror secrets. They were sure that Snow White would know how to handle things and keep their mirror secrets safe. Unfortunately at that time, Snow White was making one of her good will trips and Wilhelm and Krause had to spend some time in the dungeon of the Fourth Kingdom waiting for her return."

"So I've been told," Tony said dryly. He'd seen the graffiti by Wilhelm Grimm left on the walls of Wendell's dungeon with his own eyes when he'd been held there briefly by his ex-wife.

"Anyway, they somehow managed to escape. They wandered around the Nine Kingdoms for several days until they were befriended by an inn keeper's daughter by the name of Dorothea. She and her father were the last remaining human members of Mazarin's family, but they were managing to keep that fact secret with the help of a name change. To make a long story short, Dorothea fell in love with John Krause. Sabirah in her job as all-knowing fairy godmother got them an audience with Snow White immediately after her return to the castle. In her deceased state, Sabirah had access to information that no one else did. She knew Dorothea was a descendent of Mazarin's and she thought it would be good for this blameless branch of his family to have a chance to live in peace. She declared John and Dorothea to be perfect for each other. And she sent the three of them back through the mirror. Then she contacted me in New York in my shaving mirror.

"Sabirah told me what had happened and warned me of the dangers of leaving any of the mirrors on. That's why I decided to keep the one that I actively used at the bottom of the North Sea under the care of the sea unicorns. I thought the other two would be safe with the dwarves as long as they weren't turned on. I should have known better as they were obviously stolen later by Snow White's stepmother and Mazarin.

"I looked up Mr. Grimm and his traveling companions on this side of the mirror after Sabirah contacted me. I wanted to see what they might say or do about their experiences in the Nine Kingdoms. John and Dorothea never spoke of it to anyone as far as I can tell. Wilhelm returned to Europe and when he and his brother were in need of funds later, they wrote a series of stories based on what he'd heard in the Nine Kingdoms. I was very relieved to hear them referred to them as 'fairy tales' and fantasy.

"Dorothea and John Krause were married and remained in New York. As far as I can tell through my various Google searches, they became one set of your great great great great grandparents. Dorothea told everyone on John's side of the family that she was an orphan who'd come here from Europe. I don't know what happened to her father back in the Nine Kingdoms. I'm sure he was glad to have Dorothea safe from the shadow of Mazarin's shame. Little did any of them know, one of Dorothea's descendants would one day be fighting Mazarin in this land."

"Wolf would call that Destiny. I guess that means Mazarin is some sort of great uncle to me."

"Yes. At least according to my Internet search. I lost track of Dorothea over the years. She didn't know me, of course, and we ran in different circles. I saw no reason to bother her. I just hoped she'd found her Happily Ever After."

"Yeah, well if we don't get moving, a lot of people will lose their chance at a Happily Ever After." Tony picked up Matilde's crystal ball from the nightstand next to the bed.

"We'll give you as much cover as we can," Kai said looking at his watch. "The Murray's should just be starting the three rebellions we've planned for today. Aron's sister Nyota is up in Mr. Murray's apartment leading some magical interference. We should be able to keep Mazarin's people busy for at least a couple of hours."

"That should be enough. At least I hope it will be." Tony reached his hand out toward Raphaela and she floated into it. "I have some traveling dust. Raphaela will transfer us into the Empire State Building. I just hope I don't have too much trouble finding Mazarin. I mean, how do you search for yourself?"

"The most I can suggest is that you ask where Zafira is. She's Mazarin's mistress. She's a fairy with reddish brown hair and wings. My spies tell me she left Mazarin last night to party at the Chrysler Building. She'll probably go from there to deal with the uprisings that should be starting just about now around the city. Mazarin usually leaves her to attend to the direct issues while he stays home. The rest of their followers, the ones who actually know Mazarin, are scattered around the city trying to maintain order. There's no reason for them to leave Mazarin with any guards since he's more powerful than everyone else and it wouldn't even occur to them to fear for his safety. Everyone you're likely to run into is likely to be human and under a forgetfulness spell. They'll be too confused about themselves and their present situation to notice if you're acting strangely. Just growl and yell. We've seen him do a lot of that in his daily contacts with us. So no one will suspect a thing."

"Growl and yell. I think I can do that."

"My best to the three of you." Kai gave them all a bow to show his respect. "Chu'Mana…Tony…Miss Raphaela. May Destiny shield you."

Aron bowed as well. He'd been standing there listening to all of this feeling as if he were in some kind of sci-fi movie. "Godspeed," he said. "And may the Force be with you."

And with that, Kai and Aron left them.

"I guess it's just us then," Tony said, to his seemingly lifeless companions.

Raphaela floated out of Tony's hand momentarily so that he could fish out a pinch of traveling dust. Then he threw it into the air and she fell into his hand once more. The dust sparkled all around them for a moment. And then they were gone.

When they reappeared it was in front of a large retinue of servants in an underground corridor in the lower depths of the Empire State Building. The servants thought Tony was Mazarin. So they immediately fell to the floor, sending all the cleaning implements they'd been carrying onto the floor in every direction.

"Good," Tony said, half to himself. If they were all on the floor, they wouldn't look too hard at him.

"Master!" the servants said as one.

"Good, there you are!" Tony bellowed. "Where's Zafira?"

"She's not here, Master," one of the men said. He hunched his shoulders and buried his face into his chest as if he feared some physical reprisal from Tony. "I'm sure she's out doing your bidding."

"What!? Did I tell her she could go?"

The servant shrank further into himself, as did the rest of the servants.

"Where was she seen last?"

"I believe she went to your room last night," the same man said speaking to the floor.

"And where's that?"

The servant was silent, unsure how to respond.

"I said, where's my room! Insolent servant! How can I be sure you're telling me the truth unless I'm sure you know where my room is."

The servant hesitated and then said, "Your room is down to the left at the end of the corridor and down that flight of stairs."

"Good. You spoke the truth then. All right. Back to your business!" Tony turned and walked away from them as quickly as he could. None of the people on the floor dared get up until they were sure he was far away.

When Tony got to the room in question it had a big sign in metal letters just outside that read, "Central Mail Room." It seemed a strange place to crash to Tony. But Mazarin had demanded the biggest room in the "castle" and they had brought him here. Mazarin didn't care what it had been used for previously. He'd since had it cleared of all mail paraphernalia. It was now full of the building's best furniture and several art pieces. It had been Zafira's idea to bring in the art. She felt if Mazarin was going to live in the basement, he should at least have beautiful things around him. She'd half hoped they would help him get out of the funk he'd been in. But of course it hadn't done any good.

Tony tiptoed to the open door and saw Mazarin before a great table just finishing his breakfast. Mazarin was thinking about magically contacting the people of the Tenth Kingdom to give them their daily speech. He knew he was going to have to do something about the rebelliousness of his conquered slaves. But he wasn't quite sure what yet.

Tony didn't want to give Mazarin any time to react. The wizard had a lot of power and if he thought to use it, Raphaela might not have time to create the diversion they needed. So Tony stepped boldly into the doorway and shouted as loudly as he could. "Hey! Mazzie!"

The wizard looked up and hesitated at seeing someone who looked like him standing there with a cane and crystal ball. Then he started to get up.

"Catch!" Tony said, throwing Raphaela to Mazarin. He knew his aim didn't matter because she could get to him on her own.

"What?" Mazarin yelled. He saw the cane coming toward him and recognized it. Matilde had had it with her the last time he'd faced her when she had been with Centaurea. Since the cane was well known for its healing powers, he thought her bringing it to that final battle of the Magic War was a sign of her fear for her and her husband's safety, a sign that they knew they would lose. Did it mean she was dead? "Matilde's cane!" he said. His recognition made him reach for it. And that was all that Raphaela needed.

As soon as the two made contact there was a crack of magical power and the scent of burning flesh. Mazarin tried to throw Raphaela aside, but couldn't. He tried to use his magic against her. Flashes of light came from his palm, but she held him fast. He laid his free hand on her and tried to break her over his knee. Flashes of fire came forth, but Raphaela held on.

With Mazarin distracted, it was time for Chu'Mana do her part. Tony took Matilde's crystal and smashed it to the ground. It shattered into dust, but out of its center came Chu'Mana. She grew in size till she filled the entire room. Her eyes glowed green as she hovered over Mazarin. He felt her power and stopped fighting with Raphaela to look at her. He didn't know what she was, but he saw the power in her eyes. And he felt her drawing his power out of him. "No!" he screamed.

Raphaela fell from his hands and rolled away as Chu'Mana coiled around the evil wizard. His screams stopped as a great light flew out over the room. When Chu'Mana uncoiled Mazarin was gone.

The snake maiden rose up proudly, happy to be in her true form after so many years. With a hiss, she nodded in Tony's direction and disappeared. Tony just stood in amazement.

Chu'Mana's next stop was the newly named Silver Wand Castle. She appeared inside the protective barrier they'd put up around it. It was strong enough to keep out the humans who were still staging protests nearby, but it couldn't stop a being with her power. She coiled in front of the building and grew in size till she broke through the barrier's ceiling and destroyed it in a flash of light. She was now tall enough to look down on the building. "Come to me!" she hissed. "Come to me."

The two followers of Mazarin who were still inside came out to her as if they were in a trance. They were two of the weaker ones. They had no way to fight her magic. She was calling to their power, drawing it to her. They simply walked into her coils and disappeared. As soon as they were gone, the main barrier over the city began to weaken. It glowed with a blue light and flashes of orange exploded in several places.

The humans who had been rallying outside of the Chrysler Building watched in awe. First a giant. Then some kind of force field and a crazy wizard. Now this!

Zafira was uptown when Chu'Mana coiled around Mazarin. Even though they had grown apart as lovers, they were still joined together tightly as members of the same coven. Without Mazarin, their band couldn't hope to hold everything in place. She had to go to the source of trouble immediately. Zafira gestured to the other two members who were with her trying to quell the latest garbage riot.

As they flew downtown, Zafira felt the disappearance of the two who had been at the Silver Wand Castle. When she got there, she found an even larger Chu'Mana. The snake maiden had coiled up around the Chrysler Building and was thrusting her great head through the protective barrier that Mazarin and his followers had placed around the island. The flashes of orange had increased and the barrier was fading fast.

Zafira charged Chu'Mana, sending out bolts of power toward her, but Chu'Mana merely absorbed them. When Zafira got close enough, Chu'Mana knocked her from the sky into the waiting coils of her tail. Chu'Mana was now an immense size. Only her middle section was wrapped around the building. Once Zafira disappeared into her coils, she grabbed the two fairies who had followed Zafira. The barrier around the island then collapsed completely.

The electricity on the island came back on fully. Uptown Virginia's grandmother was at last able to get her programs on the small television in Virginia's room. And the government helicopters that had been trying to gain entrance finally were able to get through.

The military of course noticed the giant snake coiled around the Chrysler Building. But there was a lot of confusion as to what to do about it. They were still too shocked at the sudden disappearance of the force field. And there was great doubt as to whether the helicopters had the fire power to shoot the snake down. So the commanders ordered evasive maneuvers until they could bring in backup.

Chu'Mana didn't even seem to notice the helicopters. She released the building and floated into the sky. Then she began spinning. She rolled from one end of the island to the other, creating a great magical wind that made flying difficult for the military. The wind swept up the remains of Mazarin's followers and cancelled all the magic that didn't belong to that dimension. When she was done, all the buildings and roads were as they were before and there was no trace of foreign magic. The Tenth Kingdom was no more.

- - - - - - - - - -

Kai was in Tony's apartment trying to handle things from there. When he heard the television go on in Virginia's room, he knew Chu'Mana had broken Mazarin's spell. And he felt suddenly saddened.

"Kai," a voice behind him hissed.

He turned to see his sister curled up near Tony's lounge chair. She was much smaller now and the outline of her form was fading.

"I've got to go."

"I can't tell you…I can't thank you enough," Kai said, tears coming to his eyes.

"My bargain with Xian is broken. She will sense my passing. If anything happens, you're the only one who can hold her back."

"She'd never listen to me. I'm more human than she is and I have no magic."

"But you are our father's son. You may not have magic, but you have authority. Use it if you need to."

"I'm sure she'll stay in Irem. What could she want with the Nine Kingdoms?"

"I don't know. But in case she decides to take down the barrier, remember that you are our father's son. You have a right to involve yourself in the running of his kingdom." Chu'Mana hovered closer. "Are you going to stay here on this side of your mirror?"

"It sounds like Snow White and Queen Matilde have things well in hand in the Nine Kingdoms. There's nothing for me to do there."

"Snow White won't stay forever. She will move on soon as Sabirah did."

"But they'll still have Matilde and her uncle. If they need me, they know where to find me. The jinn I traded my few powers to said one day Jennica would come to this land and that I would find her again if I proved myself loyal enough."

Chu'Mana was fading quickly, but Kai could still see his sister's green eyes looking away from him.

"You know something. Has my Jennica come here already?"

"You must find your own destiny," Chu'Mana said. "But ask yourself about the jinn's words. Was he saying you must prove yourself by being loyal to Jennica…Or something else?"

And she was gone.

- - - - - - - - - -

Downtown in the restored Empire State Building Tony was standing over a still Raphaela. As soon as Chu'Mana had disappeared from the remodeled mailroom, he'd rushed over to where she'd fallen to the floor. He snatched her up and asked her over and over again if she was all right, sounding a bit more concerned each time she didn't answer.

At last a hint of her face appeared at the top of the cane. She looked tired and obviously didn't have much strength. "I'm all right, Father," she whispered. "I just need rest." And she faded away again.

"All right," Tony said, his eyes tearing up at the endearment. "You rest. You're always healing everyone else. It's time for you to take care of yourself."

Tony plucked off the beard Aron had so carefully applied to his face earlier. And he rubbed off the make-up using his wizard robes as towels. Tony didn't think to take off the heavier eyebrows that Aron had glued on over his natural ones, but if he'd thought of it, he wouldn't have cared. He had a long walk ahead of him and an extra layer of eyebrows weren't likely to weigh him down. He went out of the building wearing a tee shirt and the pants he'd had on under the wizard's robe. He blinked at the warm sun and looked up at the restored Empire State Building. It was good to see it back. Lots of other people were out on the street looking dazed. So no one noticed him as he made his way uptown. He heard the sound of sirens echoing in the distance. It was a welcome sign that the city was trying to come back to itself.

It was well after noon when Tony finally reached his old apartment. This time there weren't crowds of Murray's waiting to meet him, which was actually good news. He wasn't at all sure how they were going to act toward him now. Mr. Kai wasn't there either, nor was any member of his coven. The only sign of life was the sound of the television in Virginia's room. That told Tony that his mother-in-law was still there. But he didn't really care. He took himself to his room, carefully left Raphaela to rest in the corner, and then threw himself down on the bed.

It was well after night fall when he woke to Roland's tongue on his face. Of course the poodle wasn't alone. Virginia's grandmother was standing there as well.

"Good. You're awake," Christine's mother said.

"What time is it?"

"Some time after nine. I tried to wake you up before, but you only grunted at me."

"What's happening?"

"Oh, nothing, CNN is going on about how New York was stuck in some sort of power outage and that some people got caught up in an hysterical frenzy. Everyone's acting as if what happened was completely normal somehow."

"Yeah, well. It's probably easier for them to accept it that way."

"I suppose." Virginia's grandmother shrugged her shoulders. Then she returned to Virginia's bedroom to share a new bottle of champagne with her poodle.

Tony slept through the rest of the night and woke up around noon the next day to find Kai in his kitchen making coffee.

"So you're here," Tony said.

"I thought you might need some of this." Kai filled a mug with coffee and slid it over the counter.

"Thanks. Is everything back to normal?"

"As normal as can be expected. The government is saying some bad guys tried to take advantage of the island-wide black out and that there was some hysteria about it. But that all the bad guys have been rounded up and taken away."

"At least that much is true."

Tony took a loud sip of coffee. "This is good."

"I've learned a few things on this side of the mirror."

"Have you seen the Murray's?"

"Oh, yes. First thing this morning. They're a very businesslike bunch and they were all down at the offices of Magic Beer early trying to make sense of things."

"And how are they taking it…I mean the whole slave thing?"

"Well, the magic took over their minds, so the removal of the magic has left things a little fuzzy. They suspect that they got some bad food during the black-out and that it's affected their memories a little. All they really seem clear on is that you went into business with Mr. Murray and that Magic Beer did so well that he brought his whole family into town to run it while you spend time abroad. I've suggested that you gave Mr. Murray an old family recipe for the beer. The refrigerator that used to make it doesn't have any magic anymore. So it's a good thing I'd started moving production in more usual directions."

"Then they're not angry?"

"No. Magic Beer has made them all very prosperous and that's the thing they're choosing to center on since everything else is fuzzy." Kai sat himself down on one of the kitchen chairs. "I've assured them that even though they don't remember much, they were all very heroic during the black-out. Which of course they were.

"I doubt they'll be keeping up your apartment for you from now on, though I can certainly see to its upkeep and to your mother-in-law, if you like. I just wonder what they're going to think when they realize that they're all carrying around the same picture of you. I'm thinking I'll try and convince them it's for PR purposes.."

Tony's eyebrows rose up as he imagined the now normal Murray's realizing they all had pictures of him. That's when he finally realized he was still wearing the fake eyebrows. They were in the process of coming off on their own after being slept on all night. It was a simple thing to pull them off the rest of the way.

"I don't think you have to worry about them being angry," Kai said. "You're their silent business partner in a very successful venture."

"Will you be staying on…with Magic Beer, I mean?"

"I think so. It's useful to have a job here. And the Murray's have been very generous in their remuneration. What about you? What are you going to do?"

"I think I'll be heading back to the Nine Kingdoms as long as you don't need me here. I can't imagine getting Matilde to leave there except for the occasional visit. And I think Virginia and Wolf intend to stay there. They'll probably visit Virginia's grandmother from time to time with little Anthony, though. I can't imagine Raphaela ever leaving the Nine Kingdoms. She basically did what she did yesterday for everyone there, to protect them from Mazarin ever returning."

"Oh, I almost forgot. How is Matilde's daughter?"

"She appeared for a brief moment after her run-in with Mazarin and said that she needed to rest. I haven't seen her since. I'd feel better if I got her back to Matilde. To make sure nothing's wrong."

"I think that's best. Snow White may be able to help too. Would you like me to continue seeing to your mother-in-law?"

"Yes, thank you. Virginia would like that. You're a better man than I am," Tony said, toasting him with his coffee cup.

"You know, you did a brave thing yesterday."

"Not me. Raphaela and your sister were the brave ones. I just transported them there. But that's OK. I'm not much of a hero. My daughter has it on me in that department."

"You've done right by her, you know."

"Thank you. I haven't always. But I've tried."

"You can't do anything more than that."


	36. Chapter 36 Happily Ever After for Some

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX**

**Happily Ever After…For Some**

When Tony stepped through the mirror into the Nine Kingdoms with Raphaela in hand, he was immediately engulfed by his old comrade in arms, Lord Rupert.

"Lord Lewis!" Rupert said, squeezing Tony hand. "It's so good to have you back! Queen Matilde asked me to watch for your return. She wants me to notify her at once." He held up the mirror amulet that Tony had worn to visit the dwarves just when the curse had hit. "Her Majesty is still away with Prince Brutus and Queen Snow White, trying to get things back in order now that the curse is over."

"Then things are better?"

"Oh, yes. The curse is done. Everyone is awake…except for the few who didn't make it, of course. There were a few weaker ones who weren't able to take the lack of food and water."

"And King Wendell?"

"He's back on his feet and overseeing the kingdom. He's young and strong, so he had no trouble coming to himself."

"And my daughter and grandson?"

"Princess Virginia is in the Seventh Kingdom. I hear she is going to be handing over her position as Second to the Princess Forsythia. It's a true miracle, because no one has ever been able to talk sense to Queen Leaf Fall's daughters. Although, that's just between us. I wouldn't want Queen Leaf Fall to hear me say something like that…even if everyone else is saying it as well.

"Prince Wolf and your grandson should be returning from the Second Kingdom shortly in the company of the Ice Maidens. I hear that Queen Red is doing admirably well. The only thing is…well, I would cut my tongue off for saying anything ill about anyone, but Prince Wolf's nephew…he did something quite questionable."

"Is he all right?"

"Oh, yes, quite all right. But I think I've said too much. I'll leave Prince Wolf to tell you the story. The young lad's mother Pura is going to have so much on her shoulders." Rupert clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Poor woman. Raising a child alone is so difficult."

"Tell me about it."

"Oh, but of course, you would know all about that first hand. You did an outstanding job with the Princess Virginia! I'll bet that one day she will be called the Sixth Great Woman Who Changed History. How did your quest on the other side of the mirror go?"

"We succeeded in getting rid of Mazarin and putting things back in order."

"I'm SO relieved! But of course, there was never any doubt that you would succeed."

"Of course not. Did you do something about Mazarin's followers on Hunter's Island?"

"They were taken to Snow White Memorial Prison, still asleep. Since they were put under a spell similar to the one that held Snow White, they will probably stay that way until they're each kissed by a handsome prince. The prison warden says there won't be too many princes where they're going."

"Rupert, do you think I could be the one to tell Matilde I'm back."

"Of course! I'm sure the Queen would prefer it!" Rupert quickly took off the mirror medallion and handed it to Tony. "I'll just leave you two alone to talk."

Tony waited for Rupert to leave the room before he ran his fingers over the medallion and called his wife's name. "Matilde? Matilde, are you there?"

"Tony!" Matilde answered at once. She'd been keeping a close eye on the medallion, waiting for news. "You're home!"

"Yes. And I don't mind telling you that I'm glad to be here."

"You're all right?"

"Yes, and so is Raphaela, though she's still very weak. She appeared to me briefly just before we left to let me know she was on the mend, but I could tell by the faintness of her image that she's still very tired. I'll put her in our room to rest, or leave her in little Anthony's room so she can see him as soon as he gets home."

"So…Mazarin is gone for good?"

"Yes. Chu'Mana cleaned up that whole place in minutes. Kai gave me a little bit more of his family's story too. I'll fill you in when I see you. He thinks he may know how I'm related to Mazarin. When are you coming home?"

"By this evening I should think."

"I hear voices in the background."

"Uncle Brutus is boasting about his magical abilities to a group of First Kingdom Bishops. We were just seeing Cindy home. We were afraid the curse would take a lot out of her, but she seems to be doing pretty well."

"I'm glad to hear it. Send her my best. Tell her Virginia has been making good use of her magic glass slippers."

"Yes, the slippers. Since they were made with the help of the crystal, they're probably the last remaining bit of Chu'Mana. I'm sorry I didn't get to thank her for the help she gave my mother in bringing back Raphaela."

"We owe her a lot. Well…I better let you go. The sooner you finish there, the sooner you'll come home. I really need to see you." Tony ran his fingers over the medallion, wishing it was his wife's face instead of her reflection.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You know, I've been thinking. Is there someone around here who does portraits? I know you don't use photographs yet, but maybe I'd prefer a painting anyway."

"A painting of what?"

"I'd like a big family portrait, with you, Virginia and Wolf, Raphaela, our new grandson, and Rose and Wendell. We should have Timka and his mother in it too. And maybe even Queen Red and Leaf Fall."

"That's going to be some painting. It will need to be wall size. Rupert probably knows of someone."

"I'll ask him. It's something I'd really like to have."

- - - - - - - - - -

Just before Wolf left the Second Kingdom with his son, he visited Queen Red Riding the Third in her chambers. Her maids were flitting about her doing her hair and fluffing up the ruffles on her light red gown. She looked pale, but there was a slight smile on her lips. The curse was over and summer was on the way and many local towns were holding parties to celebrate. The queen's maids were talking about finding new beaus at these parties and it was hard not to feel their excitement as they attended her. But when Queen Red heard Wolf had come to see her, she immediately sent them all away so she could see her cousin alone.

Wolf gave her a deep bow and kissed her hand. "May I say, you look lovely your Majesty."

"My maids are trying to talk me into taking a retinue of carriages through the local villages for a little parade, to show everyone that things are getting back to normal. They think I should dress up for the occasion."

"I think they're right."

Queen Red put her hand to the pendant around her neck. It was the red stone that Wolf and Virginia had seen her wearing while she was under the curse. "No one remembers my having this piece of jewelry. I was wearing it when I woke up. But it goes very well with this dress, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do," Wolf said, tapping the aged book he was carrying under his arm.

"I don't know what kind of stone it is, though."

"I think it's probably a garnet."

"It's so beautiful."

Wolf had a pretty good idea where the gem came from, but of course he couldn't say anything. He had promised to protect Ichabod's secret. "I have something for you, your Majesty." Wolf held up the book. "I found this while I was digging into various corners of the castle, in the lower store rooms, looking for some additional bells."

"What is it?"

"It's your father's journal, written mostly while he was away with the military."

"My father?"

"Yes. It probably got mixed in with his old armaments. I thought you would want it."

"Oh, yes please."

Wolf handed it over and said, "While leafing through it I noticed an interesting entry that he made just before your birth. Evidently, he wanted to name you Garnet, with the accent on the second syllable. Your mother decided not to do that, even though they'd talked about it. Your mother also wanted your father to stay away from you, which I don't think he was really happy about."

"Really?" Queen Red blinked back the tears that were starting to gather. She looked down at the weathered book in her lap. She'd hardly ever been allowed around her father. She knew he was ladies' man just as everyone did, but that was about it. She'd always longed to know more.

From behind the queen there was a small phantom sniff that Wolf well knew was the invisible Ichabod. "I just thought you'd want to know."

"Cousin Wolf, how can I thank you?"

"There's no need to thank me. I did what any wolf would do. I protected my family."

"I heard you had some problems with other members of your family," Queen Red said, trying to be delicate.

"Oh. You mean Timka. I know some people won't understand, but that really wasn't about him. It was all caused by some rabble rousers that I had been having trouble with in the Fourth Kingdom. They wanted to use the confusion of the curse to try and cause trouble here. But Timka took it over and made it into a family feud. Wolves battle sometimes for dominance. My nephew challenged me with a weapon he knew I was better with in order to let me win. But he made a good show of it. From now on any trouble makers will know have to go through him as well as me. It put another row of protection between me and my son and your throne, even at the risk of Timka's reputation."

"I think you will be a good king if anything ever happens to me again."

Wolf's eyes opened wide with fear. "Oh, no! I beg your pardon, Cousin, but huff-puff, I REALLY don't want to be king!"

"Why not? You seem to have done an excellent job. My chancellor can't stop singing your praises."

"I protected my family. That's what a wolf does. But, begging your pardon, I don't want the job of king! Not everyone's cut out to be alpha. And I can't imagine anything worse than being shut up in a castle all the time."

Queen Red smiled. "Well, with all these difficulties of late, I really must think seriously of the line of succession. You've told me Maria Thompson doesn't want the job. That she wants to remain on her farm. And you don't want it either. Your sister is tied up with the Fourth Kingdom. And young Timka's recent actions will cause some to see him in a bad light, regardless of his motives. Maybe your son Anthony would like to be king."

"You'll have to ask him when he comes of age."

"I'll wait and ask Anthony then. Perhaps he can even be my Second one day. In the meantime, thank you for everything, Cousin Wolf."

Wolf bowed again. "And thank you…Cousin Garnet."

- - - - - - - - - -

With everything starting to get to normal in most of the Nine Kingdoms, Leaf Fall was buzzing madly around the Moss Castle, taking back the reins of her own kingdom and seeing everything put to right. She had accepted Virginia's resignation as Second, seeing it clearly as an excuse to give her younger daughter Forsythia a push forward. It had always been Leaf Fall's dearest wish to have one of her daughters working beside her, prepping for one day becoming Queen of the Elves. Leaf was more grateful to Virginia than she could ever say for helping Forsythia make the decision. It was something she would never forget. Virginia may stop being her Second, but Leaf promised herself that the tie between them would strengthen.

With Leaf Fall so totally involved in work, it was Forsythia who saw Virginia off, thanking her once again for helping their people.

"You did most of it," Virginia said, squeezing the young elf's hand in friendship. "They're your people. They look to you for guidance and help. And when the chips were down you came through."

"Chips?"

"It's an expression some people use where I come from. It means when things got tough, you came through for them. You're going to be a great queen when the time comes. I know it."

Forsythia blushed. "You think?"

"You have a caring heart. During something like this, your people really needed to see that. It gave them hope and courage. And they saw that they weren't alone. That means a lot to people, even when you can't do as much as you'd like to fix things. You're going to be great working with the Council too. Just don't let your mother run you around too much. Leaf Fall lives to work."

"She does, doesn't she?" Forsythia said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was lucky I had a pregnancy and a newborn to use as an excuse when the workload got too great. You're going to have to just tell her no. You think you can do that?"

"I'll try. My mother is a very…" Forsythia searched for the right word. "Forceful woman."

"That she is. But if she gives you too much trouble, just tell me and I'll fix things. If I can't control her, I'll send Matilde in to take care of her."

"I'll do that. And if you ever need anything, you can come to me as well."

Virginia felt Cinderella's shoes tighten on her feet. They tended to do that when they wanted to be off. "I have to get back to the Fourth Kingdom now and see how things are going there. Wolf should be home by now with our son."

"Thank you again."

Virginia gave Forsythia a quick hug and then the magic shoes whisked her away. The next thing she knew, she was standing before Cinderella in an ante room just off her royal bedchamber in the First Kingdom. Cinderella wasn't alone, either. She was surrounded by Matilde and her uncle Brutus, Cinderella's Chancellor, and a couple of other lords from the First Kingdom. Cinderella was dressed in a gorgeous robe of white satin and spun gold, seated comfortably in a large lounge chair while everyone else stood around her.

"Ah, there you are, Virginia," Matilde said, as if people appeared and disappeared like this all the time. "We were just talking about you."

Virginia looked down at the sparkling shoes on her feet. They were twinkling much brighter than usual and pinching Virginia's toes. Virginia knew they were eager to return to their original owner. Their brilliant light show was clearly a welcome home to Cinderella.

"Your Majesty," Virginia said. "It's good to see you up and around."

"Yes," Cinderella said with a smile. "Everyone's babying me, but I'm actually feeling quite rested after my long nap. I see you've brought my shoes back."

"Yes," Virginia said, slipping them off. "They've been a tremendous help." She handed the slippers to Cinderella."

Cinderella caressed the slippers lovingly. "I've missed them. I usually leave them on display because everyone always wants to see them. But I think I will wear them more regularly from now on."

"You would have been protected from the curse if you'd been wearing them," Matilde observed.

"Really?" Virginia asked.

"They have the power to mirror spells back to their originator," Cinderella said. "So, if I'd had them on, the curse would have flashed back to Mazarin and his followers and hit them instead. We would have all been spared. Which pretty much tells me I should wear them more often. They might save us from similar troubles in the future." With a smile she slipped them on her feet and sighed with contentment.

"Well, we've got to be going," Matilde said. "Tony's back and he tells me Wolf is back as well."

"Yes, you want to get home to your family."

"I can stay if you need anything," Prince Brutus said with a brusque little bow.

"My Chancellor might want you for a few things," Cinderella said. "As for me, I'm hungry as a horse. I'll leave you two to handle the kingdom for a while. Virginia, thank you again for everything."

"I didn't do that much really," Virginia said. "It was mostly your shoes and Princess Forsythia." Virginia tried not to look at the shoes because she was feeling sad at the parting.

"The shoes will always pick their owner," Cinderella said. "That's what Matilde's mother told me when she was working as my fairy godmother. They will refuse to fit anyone else. The day will come when I can't wear them anymore. I have a feeling they'll be coming to you then. Just don't let them bully you. They can be a bit demanding sometimes."

"They do have a mind of their own," Virginia said with a smile. "But I kind of liked that."

"Cindy, I'll look in on you in a couple of days," Matilde said.

"Take your time, Matilde. I'm all right. Really I am."

- - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the evening at Wendell's castle was very quiet, except for the occasional laugh or sigh behind closed doors. Tony and Matilde adjourned to their room shortly after Matilde returned with Virginia from Cinderella's. Rose and Wendell had done the same hours before. And Pura seemed eager to keep to herself after she heard about Timka's challenge against Wolf.

Wolf tried to convince Pura that neither he nor Rose would hold anything against Timka, but she didn't quite believe them. At least not at that point. In the gypsy world when you went against the leader, you were banished. She assumed she and Timka would now lose everything they had gained. So she thought it best to remain in seclusion until Timka returned to the castle. She was sure he would come back to see how she was. And she didn't want to miss him by leaving before then.

Wolf would have liked to whisk Virginia off to their room immediately after her return, but Virginia seemed unusually quiet, so he didn't suggest any hide and seek games. Instead he ordered them a meal in a secluded corner of the dining room. Since most of the people in the castle had their minds on things other than food, the chef was thrilled to have someone to cook for. Cooking was his way of celebrating. Their ten course meal ended with a giant hot fudge sundae. Wolf had asked for this specifically. He'd learned during his brief stay in New York City that chocolate seemed to have magical powers of good feeling for women. But Virginia didn't seem interested. She just let her desert melt into a sad brown puddle.

"Virginia, what's the matter?" Wolf asked after they got back to their room.

"I'm just a waitress again," she said starting to cry. "I was Leaf's Second. And I had Cinderella's magic shoes. And now I'm just a waitress again."

"Oh, no no no no no! You're much more than that! You did the right thing in handing over the job of Second to Forsythia. You'll always have strong ties to the Seventh Kingdom now. The Princess Forsythia is the beginning of what Snow White said you'd become. You advised a lost girl. Even though she is kind of on the old side from our point of view, she's still a girl in elf years. In doing that, you've brought together a mother and daughter. And Cinderella's magic shoes have all but declared you to be Cinderella's successor. Your story has only begun!"

"You think?" Virginia asked tearfully.

"Oh, I know! They'll be singing songs about us for years and years and years."

"You're a princess with the heart of a queen," the singing ring sang.

"You're a guide with courage, as many have seen.

You fear and you worry when danger's in sight,

But you never fail to stand up and fight."

"You see," Wolf said. "The ring knows."

"Of Prince Wolf I know many will say," the ring continued.

"He's a teacher and philosopher in his own way.

He leads his people as he sits in the woods,

And no one will doubt that he's all good.

"Of Prince Anthony many will sing,

Over many lands he will be a good king.

When there is danger, his one great friend,

Will be Cousin Timka, from now till the end."

"It sounds like the ring is making some official predictions," Wolf said.

"But Kai said he couldn't really make any big predictions. Unless he's getting this from someone like Snow White."

"Snow White's time is over, she says," the ring sang.

"She must move on as Chu'Mana has.

These things I sang are her gift to you.

You'll see in time that they all will come true."

"Give Snow White our best," Virginia said. "I don't know how we'll get on without her."

"You've already made a start,

Just remember to follow your heart."

Virginia cuddled into Wolf's chest as Snow White unseen in their room, blew them both a kiss. Since she'd contacted them so often through the singing ring, it seemed she should say goodbye through it as well.

Before moving on, Snow White had one last stop to make. She called to Matilde from her bureau mirror as Tony slept.

"Matilde," Snow White whispered from the mirror.

Matilde recognized the voice at once and went to speak to her. "Snow. What's wrong?" she whispered back. "Do you need me?"

"No. Mazarin's gone and that problem is over with. I've got to move on now."

"I was afraid you'd be leaving soon."

"You know I have to go. I only had so much time. I've done everything I set out to do. Isabella's evil is finally done. Her chosen successor has been defeated. And that successor's daughter will one day be my successor. I've also righted the wrongs in the House of Red. Destiny and I have done our job. I had planned to leave soon after Anthony's birth, but I didn't expect Mazarin's return."

"No one did," Matilde said.

"You know, young Anthony has a good chance of uniting much of the Nine Kingdoms when he grows up. Queen Red is considering making him her official successor. And he will have influence in the Fourth and First Kingdoms, even as his mother will have sway in the Seventh and Ninth. I have told the dwarves that they should consider Virginia my successor and seek her out if they need anything. As for Timka, he will serve as one of Anthony's greatest supporters and even become his secret weapon. Watch over that young man."

"I will."

"As for you, Old Friend…it's time for you to take on the full responsibilities of your mother. In your own way you've avoided total involvement in the Nine Kingdoms, much as Forsythia has in the Seventh. You've served as president of the Council of the Nine Kingdoms, but you've let Leaf Fall do most of the work. She can only do so much. And you never know. There could be something like The Magic War again. You and Brutus will now be the most powerful beings in the Nine Kingdoms. You're needed."

"I get it, Snow. I know you had a lot to do with pulling me out of my Ice Castle."

"To some extent. I wanted you involved in setting things right in the House of Red. I didn't foresee you getting involved with Lord Lewis. But he's a good man. And he's never going to allow you to cloister yourself again. You and Virginia both had to defrost a bit. I'm glad to see you in the center of an active family…you and Raphaela. I'm sorry I didn't know of her sooner, but I'm glad she's not a secret anymore. She has her own destiny. Enjoy your family. And help Virginia. She still has some things to face."

"I know. I'll tend to it."

"Goodbye, Old Friend," Snow White said as she started to fade from the mirror. "Give Lord Lewis and Raphaela my best."

"I will."

After Snow White had gone, Matilde looked out the window of their room for a very long time, with Tony snoring every now and again behind her. Snow was right. Unlike her mother, Matilde had avoided taking a central position in the Nine Kingdoms, except during the Magic War. Here she was over 500 years old and it seemed that she still had some growing up to do.

- - - - - - - - - -

Wendell and Rose snuggled together in their bed, enjoying the play of the flickering candles around them.

"I was so worried about you," Rose said.

"It sounds like you were one hell of a queen in my absence, though," Wendell said.

"I was really more of a general." Rose nestled her chin on his chest so she could look into his eyes.

"But you cared more about the kingdom and the castle than a mere general would have."

"That's being a wolf. Wolves protect their own."

"Well, I think you should go on being a general. I know Rupert tried to turn you into his version of a storybook princess for a while. But I think you're really the spiritual successor of Gretel the Great. You should be leading my army along with Burke. With the two of you in charge, you can leave the army to him when you need to do more queenly things."

"Can I wear trousers instead of dresses?"

"Of course. However, I prefer you when you're not wearing anything at all." He ran his hand slowly up and down her back. "But I think I can put up with you wearing trousers most of the time. Especially if you wear them on the tight side."

"Oh, you," Rose said, pushing playfully at his chest. Then she kissed him and everything else was forgotten.

- - - - - - - - - -

Two blue carriages belonging to King Cole pulled up to Wendell's castle early the next morning. Cole was in the first carriage looking out forlornly. The ghost of the Rapunzel was floating over it, weeping uncontrollably. Her long semi-transparent hair was cascading down over the carriage shaking with her every gasp and moan.

Herbert Winchester the perfect butler was somewhat at a loss when he saw it. He wondered if he should walk through the ghostly hair of the former queen to open the carriage door for King Cole. Or would it be considered an insult? In the end he let King Cole exit from the carriage on his own and ordered the page at his side to send for King Wendell immediately. It was better to err on the side of caution, after all. He was sure that King Wendell would know best what to do for his old friend.

Once Cole was out of the carriage, Rapunzel floated down to her son's side and wiped her face with her spectral hair.

"Your Majesties," Herbert said, with a deep bow. It seemed only right that he should acknowledge both royals. Even if one of them was a ghost, she was after all one of the Five Great Women Who Changed History. As he rose, Herbert saw that the second carriage was filled to the brim with suitcases. "Will you be staying with us for a while?" he asked politely.

"Yes. A very long while," Cole said.

Rapunzel wailed even louder at that.

"I've sent for King Wendell. He should be here momentarily," Herbert said.

"That's good. I have much to tell him."

"I'll see to your luggage." Herbert waved to the driver of the second carriage. "Driver, bring the king's luggage around to the back of the castle. You come as well," he said to the driver of the first carriage. "We can see to you and your horses there."

As Herbert led the carriages around back, Wendell appeared at the top of the castle stairs with Lord Rupert just behind him. "King Cole!" Wendell said. "What's happened?"

Rapunzel's ghost zapped up the steps to Wendell faster than her son could answer. "They've thrown us out!" she cried. "Even Lord Marmion has turned against us!"

"Good lord!" Wendell said. "Who has done this?"

"My people," King Cole said, climbing up the steps very slowly. "They say I've decided to back the wolves and joined in their battles despite the costs to the Fifth Kingdom. That I depleted the coffers of my kingdom. And that somehow I allowed the curse of Mazarin and an attack by the satyrs and hsigo while I slept. Gavrilo has been made king instead. When I awoke, my mother's ghost and I were forced into leaving."

Rapunzel started crying again. "I came back as a ghost to make sure my son would be a good king. Now we have been forced from the kingdom his father and I loved so well!" She started weeping into her hair again.

Lord Rupert wished he could have offered the lady his handkerchief, but of course that was impossible.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you like. You and your mother. We will talk to Queen Matilde and see if the Council of the Nine Kingdoms can do anything."

"I would appreciate that. But I've already checked the Treaty of the Nine Kingdoms. It states that so long as there is no bloody uprising, or request for help, or the attempted takeover of one kingdom by another, the Council will not become involved in the inner workings of each individual kingdom. I doubt there is anything to be done."

Rapunzel's crying got louder.

"I also fear that Gavrilo and the commoners of the Fifth Kingdom will be leaving the Council. They seem to blame it for much of their trouble."

As it turned out, King Cole was right. Gavrilo and the appointed commoners of the Fifth Kingdom all removed themselves from the Council. There was nothing Matilde or Leaf Fall could do unless there were obviously evil goings-on. Matilde questioned Gavrilo about his involvement with the attack on Wendell's castle. Gavrilo admitted that he had sent some of his men to investigate whether the wolves had been involved with Mazarin. But he would admit nothing else. He said the hsigo and satyrs had attacked his kingdom as well. And that Victor had died a hero in his defense of the Fifth Kingdom. Since there were no more uprisings in Wendell's kingdom, all Matilde could do was keep a close eye on things in the Fifth Kingdom.

So King Cole took up permanent residence in the castle of the Fourth Kingdom. Wendell treated him with full royal honors. The Lady Rapunzel wasn't seen very often, though she was heard moaning and crying on a regular basis when they first arrived. Matilde had to talk to her about it because the gremlins and mice in the castle started complaining. The gremlins threatened to make life very difficult for everyone unless she cut out the wailing and cried more quietly. The Lady Rapunzel agreed. But every now and again she couldn't help but mourn the loss of her beloved kingdom.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Timka returned to the castle with the young wolf Rubin at his side, he didn't know what to expect. His motives for the challenge to Wolf had been exactly as Wolf had surmised. He and Rubin realized that Camus meant to take Wolf and his entire family down. And he couldn't allow that to happen, no matter what his disagreements were with his uncle.

After the fight, the wolves that had followed Camus went their own way. Most of them had families and they were eager to make sure everything was right with them. Camus himself went north. It was clear he was very angry over Timka's loss. But for most of the wolves the argument had been settled. They had seen Wolf take on his nephew in what appeared to be a fair fight. And they had seen Wolf act with both strength and wolfish integrity. Defending the kingdom of his cousin was a right and noble thing for a wolf to do. And Timka had shown that he was going to be formidable wolf in the future. He was still young, but his potential as a fighter was quite clear to the other wolves, as well as to Wolf. Timka might have some anger to work out, but one day he would be a very important wolf in the House of Red.

Rose and Wolf also both believed Timka had acted in Wolf's and Anthony's best interests by making the challenge. Rose had been present at some of Camus's verbal confrontations with Wolf. She knew he was trouble, but had had no reason to move against him. Matilde had also spoken with the Ice Maiden named Odila who had taken Timka and the others to Queen Red's kingdom, she thought to help Wolf. Odila confirmed that Benjamin and Camus had been the leaders. And that Timka and Rubin had joined them just before they left, with Timka insisting that he was a full blood relative of Wolf's and that it was his duty. So obviously Benjamin and Camus had made a plan and Timka had inserted himself into it at the very last minute.

However, not everybody knew all these things. Many in the Nine Kingdoms looked on Timka as a traitor to his uncle. They thought it was normal for the young man to challenge his elder, but that the timing was very bad, because wolves were just starting to gain respect and it was Wolf's actions that had started to get that for them.

At first Rose suggested that Timka work with her in Wendell's army, but Timka said he didn't much care for the strict organization of the military. Fighting was fun, but he preferred to do it with less regulation. Considering his love of the woods and hunting, Wendell instead offered him the Huntsman's old job overseeing the Disenchanted Forest. And Rose presented him with the Huntsman's bow, which he had used to such great advantage when the castle had been under siege by the hsigo. Wolf promised that Timka would always be welcome in their midst. And Virginia urged him to come to the castle often to visit his young cousin Anthony.

Pura was relieved that her new in-laws were so forgiving. She still didn't understand this custom of challenging alphas, but she saw the respect that Wolf seemed to have for his nephew. And she heard how important he'd been in holding back the attacks by Victor's men. This was something that her people would respect too. She suggested Timka use his time in the Disenchanted Forest to make friends again with the gypsies.

"Many gypsies travel through the Disenchanted Forest," Pura said, "You have a chance to learn about both sides of your family now."

Timka agreed that he would try and follow his mother's wishes.

As for Pura herself, Wendell and Rose asked her to remain with them in the castle. Pura accepted the offer because she thought over time she could be the bridge between the royals and the gypsies.

And so Timka went to live in the Disenchanted Forest as the new Caretaker. At first, his friend Rubin was his only companion. But over time, he became well known to the gypsies and others travelers through the forest. While some continued to see him as a traitor, others realized that he wouldn't have been given the rule of the Disenchanted Forest unless he had the trust of both Wolf and Wendell. Most people came to think of his challenge to Wolf as a sign of youthful cockiness. Those who felt themselves to be loners and misfits often sought him out. Over time he became the unofficial king of his own band of gypsies and wolves in the forest. He was both fair and fierce when he needed to be. And his expertise with a bow and arrow became so great that he really didn't need the magic bow of the previous huntsman. But he kept it as a symbol of pride for his family. And he vowed he would one day pass it down to one of his sons…or daughters.

- - - - - - - - - -

Burly and his siblings were thrilled to able to return to their former positions in the troll kingdom. The three young trolls made sure that everyone knew of their instrumental part in overturning Mazarin's curse and the saving of their people. Of course, flying around on the back of a dragon didn't hurt their reputations either.

Baby was heartbroken at hearing Mazarin was never going to come back to her. But she realized that she had a new life with the trolls and Sammy the toad. The trolls were a little ashamed of Sammy. I mean, what self-respecting troll would hang around with a toad? So they told everyone that he was Baby's pet. Sammy didn't really like the idea of being anybody's pet. But he realized that he'd finally achieved the bigger and better things that his mother had dreamed of so long ago. He was the indispensable translator between Baby and Burly. Without him, nothing could get done. And soon he was able to benefit the rest of his kind by leading them into the same business.

Not long after they settled back into the troll castle, Baby started digging a new den. Sammy was the one who gave the trolls the news. Baby was nesting! It seems that during the time Mazarin had left her behind in that other dimension, she'd met some other dragons, including some males. And well, nature had taken its course. There were almost twenty eggs. And the trolls and Sammy helped Baby care for them until one day, nineteen little baby dragons hatched out. Blabberwort immediately chose the largest male for herself, as her future ride. Bluebell politely refused, but promised to help Sammy and Baby see to the rest.

The most surprising thing of all, though, was the romance that developed between Burly and Felicity Dragon-Slayer. Felicity had always been a woman of the outdoors and now her brother wasn't around to force her into being a proper pretender to the throne. Most people thought it was a strange match. But she took to the caretaking of the dragons as naturally as Burly did. So perhaps her family's ancient tie to the dragons is what really sparked the romance.


	37. Chapter 37 Full Circle

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN**

**Full Circle**

Virginia still wasn't sure about this, but Matilde was adamant.

When they entered the room, a freckle faced young nursemaid already had Anthony in his bath. He was happily splashing around and slapping a blue wash cloth against the top of the water. His laughing and giggling had the nursemaid laughing as well.

"Your Majesty," the nursemaid said, acknowledging Matilde first. "Princess Virginia. Prince Anthony is just the happiest baby."

"Yes he is," Matilde agreed. "You can go now and see to your other duties. We'll take care of Prince Anthony."

"Yes your Majesty," the young nursemaid said.

Matilde slipped her hands around Anthony's back and the young nursemaid curtsied before leaving.

"I can't," Virginia said when they were finally alone.

"You can," Matilde said sternly. "Why don't you get his toy boat."

Virginia slowly did as she was told. There was a small red boat sitting next to a pile of fluffy white towels. She brought it over to Matilde.

"Well…put it in the water. I know you're no longer a child, but surely you know how to play."

Virginia set the boat on the water and immediately it caught her son's attention. He giggled with delight and his mother couldn't help but smile back. He reached for it and turned it over in his hands. Then he put it back into the water and clapped as it floated first away from him and then back as he kicked his feet playfully under the shallow water. Virginia's blue eyes widened with love for her son and she started to smile.

"Now, stand where I am and take the blue wash cloth and wash him," Matilde said.

"I've never bathed him before."

"Yes, I know."

"I might hurt him."

"Just put one hand here to support him." Matilde placed Virginia's left hand behind Anthony's back. "That's right. Now take the blue wash cloth."

Virginia hesitated for a moment. She knew Matilde was trying to help her face her biggest fear, but this was hard. Her stepmother had even made sure to use a blue wash cloth, not unlike the one that had been in her bath all those years ago when her mother had tried to drown her. Either her father had remembered that little fact or Raphaela had told her. "I'm not my mother," Virginia repeated to herself. "I'm not my mother." Slowly she picked up the blue wash cloth and started to gently rub her son's shoulder with it.

"That's right," Matilde said.

Anthony slapped the red boat down on the water and sent a warm spray over his mother's face and arm. Then he looked up at her and laughed at what he thought was a great joke. Virginia laughed back.

Anthony picked up the red boat to show his mother.

"Yes, red boat," Virginia said. "Do you like red?"

Anthony babbled something in baby talk.

"Lord Rupert will be very happy to hear that. Your Daddy looks good in red."

Anthony smiled and went back to sailing his boat. Then he realized that if he kicked his feet he could make lots of waves and the boat would rise and fall dramatically. In the process much of the water left the bath, but Anthony thought it only added to the fun.

Virginia slipped both her arms around her son. "Do you want to be a sailor when you grow up?"

Anthony didn't answer. He had decided his mother's left hand was the next thing he wanted to play with. Immediately the singing ring stood at attention.

"There once was a little red boat," it sang.

"Who in Anthony's bath would float.

Through wave and splash, it would sail all the while.

And never would fail to make Anthony smile."

Anthony looked at the ring in shock. If he'd ever heard it sing before, he'd never heard it consciously. He paused for a moment and then his mouth turned up in a delighted smile. With a pleased baby gurgle, he reached for the ring and fingered its little pearl head. The ring giggled as if it were being tickled.

"Do you like the ring, Honey?" Virginia asked. She smoothed his damp dark hair back with her cheek and kissed the top of his ear. "Maybe if we ask him he'll sing it again."

"There once was a little red boat," the ring began.

"Who in Anthony's bath would float."

Anthony clapped his hands and splashed the ring and Virginia further. The ring shook a drop of water from his face and continued.

"Through wave and splash, it would sail all the while…"

At this point, Matilde thought she should leave. Quietly, she let herself out of the room and closed the door behind her. She was so intent on the loving scene between mother and son, she didn't notice the slight outline of Virginia's mother standing in the shadows of the room.

Christine smiled at the sight of her daughter and grandson. Then she disappeared forever, her work completed.

- - - - - - - - - -

In the barren desert somewhere between the Fifth Kingdom and the magic barrier placed there so long ago by Xian, her former servants the satyrs and hsigo gathered. It was the perfect place to hide. No one bothered to search for them there.

Gavrilo told the people of the Fifth Kingdom that since they were only dumb animals, the hsigo and satyrs would simply perish over time. "They know they'd be destroyed if they ever dare cross back into the Fifth Kingdom. We won't tolerate them here as they did in the Fourth."

Of course, no one knew he sent them food on a regular basis and helped them find a water source in the northern stretches of the desert. Since they didn't need to gather food or worry about water, they were free to concentrate on other things.

Day after day, the group repeated the incantation that Gavrilo had taught them. He said it was an ancient language and an ancient spell which was supposed to dissolve even the strongest of magic barriers as long as there was enough power behind it.

It wasn't clear to them that a group of satyrs and hsigo would ever be able to build up enough power to bring down the barrier that stood between the Nine Kingdoms and Irem. But they hoped Queen Xian would learn of their attempts through a crystal or magic mirror and see their loyalty. Then perhaps she would bring down the wall for them. Until then, thirteen of her faithful followers walked ceaselessly in a circle within a circle of stones. When those inside the circle became tired, the leader of the hsigos would cut a doorway into the circle with the ritual knife that Gavrilo had given him and a new group of rested satyrs and hsigo would take up the spell.

"Inso eli todop ry," they chanted.

"Inso talla edep ry

Inpa tola hida so,

Etop efra kado ro."

**The End**


End file.
